Loch Ness Monster: 3 hunters compete for £1k prize for Best Sighting of the Year

By
Gavin Madeley

Last updated at 9:41 AM on 11th January 2012

The last recorded sighting was in 2002, when a postman captured video footage of something moving deep in the water.

But sightings were thin on the ground until May last year, when she was caught on camera by holidaymakers and spotted again in June and September.

Now one of the three Loch Ness Monster hunters will win the £1,000 Best Nessie Sighting of the Year prize, unclaimed for a decade.

Peekaboo: William and Joan Jobes, of Ayrshire, were walking along the Abbey footpath in Fort Augustus when they spotted what appeared to be a head bobbing above the water 200 to 300 yards from the shore

Peekaboo: William and Joan Jobes, of Ayrshire, were walking along the Abbey footpath in Fort Augustus when they spotted what appeared to be a head bobbing above the water 200 to 300 yards from the shore

In May, holidaymakers William and
Joan Jobes spotted what appeared to be a head bobbing above the water
200 to 300 yards from the shore as they walked along the Abbey footpath
in Fort Augustus, Inverness-shire.

Mr Jobes, of Ayrshire, managed to take a single picture before the ‘head’ disappeared beneath the surface.

However, to his delight a dark, hump-like shape broke the waves and he was able to take more photographs.

The
following month, Jan and Simon Hargreaves spotted a creature while
taking a break from the shop and cafe they run in the village of Foyers,
by Loch Ness.

The couple said they saw something black with a long neck disappear underwater and then surface again.

It was around for four to five minutes but they did not manage to take a photograph.

In September, fish farm worker Jon Rowe captured a large, dark shape in the water while photographing a rainbow.

The
31-year-old, of Lewiston, Inverness-shire, then spotted two unexplained
‘Nessie-like’ humps appearing from below the surface of the water.

Could this be Nessie? Jon Rowe, a fish farm worker from Lewiston, photographed a large, dark shape in the water while photographing a rainbow

Could this be Nessie? Jon Rowe, a fish farm worker from Lewiston, photographed a large, dark shape in the water while photographing a rainbow

The Official Loch Ness Monster Fan Club has classed 89 sightings as ‘good’ since 1996 but the prize has not been awarded since 2002, when it went to Glasgow postal worker Bobbie Pollock.

He captured video footage of something moving in the water while walking with his family in the hills above Invermoriston Bay.

Mr Pollock described the section out of the water as ‘quite tall and narrow like a pole’ and moving slowly towards Fort Augustus against the wind and waves.

Fan club president Gary Campbell said: ‘In the past seven years there have been very few sightings.

‘Nessie, it seems, has been in the wilderness but there were at least three sightings last year – two have been photographed and the third sounds plausible.’

Bookmaker William Hill will announce the winner of the Best Nessie Sighting prize later this year.

Here’s what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts,
or debate this issue live on our message boards.

The comments below have not been moderated.

There are 5 thousand tigers left and they are in danger of dying out so how can 1 of a species survive for 100s of years.

There are 5 thousand tigers left and they are in danger of dying out so how can 1 of a species survive for 100s of years.

There are 5 thousand tigers left and they are in danger of dying out so how can 1 of a species survive for 100s of years.

Are they STILL using this CON to attract visitors there .– The public MUST be nieve this has been going on since I was a boy and THAT is more than 80 years ago .— NOTHING has ever been found OR ever will and that shoiud be eough for anybody
– Alan Hammond, Egham Surrey, 11/1/2012 10:22…………………….OH NO ! you must have that wrong. You’ll be telling me next there is no Father Christmas.

looks like a mink whale…not entirely sure that is what they are called but you know what i mean! There is no loch ness monster.

Best tourism gimmick every. Well done Scotland 🙂

I was working in Inverness last year and has I’d never seen Loch Ness it was a perfect time to take a few hours out and go and have a look. The weather there was similar to what we have today, dull, very low cloud, drizzly and with a slight chill. The scenery around the whole of that part of Scotland is stunning anyway but as you approach the Loch itself the beauty is breathtaking. There does seem to be a mysterious feel about the place, probably all psychological but there is definately an eerie silence. Although I have always loved stories of mystery and the supernatural I am a realist, even so I watched the surface of the water with intensity looking for a splash or large ripple. Even if you hate the whole Nessie thing Loch Ness is well worth a visit just for the views.

To Deckard B26354, London, UK, 11/01/2012 10:16
The normal person doesn’t carry a professional camera with them all the time, nor are they sitting in the water to get a close up..!!! Silly comment..!!

Looks fishy to me . It cold be another overweight “Salmon”
– Bernard Parke, Guildford, 11/1/2012 10:15++++++Or an overweight Alex Salmond floundering about.

It comes to something when the First Minister can’t practise his backstroke without having his photo splashed in the national press!

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