Loch Ness Monster sightings ‘probably otters’
Posted by: Craig Woolheater on May 14th, 2015
The Loch Ness Monster: probably an otter. Picture: Contributed
A wildlife expert claims his snap of an otter proves the animals are a common cause of Nessie sightings.
The image was was taken by Dr Jonathan Wills and shows three humps in the water similar to many representations of the world-famous Loch Ness Monster.
But on closer inspection the shot – taken from the waters around the port of Lerwick in Shetland – is of a female otter know locally as Dratsie.
Her head, back and tail form three very distinctive humps which, at a distance could be mistaken for a much larger, mythical creature.
Dr Wills says he the image taken this week proves the creature said to prowl the depths of Loch Ness hundreds of miles away is more likely a 4ft otter than a monster.
However, despite Nessie experts admitting some sightings can be put down to a case of mistaken identity they continue to insist Loch Ness is home to an unrecorded creature.
Dr Wills, owner of the Seabirds and Seals boat trips, took the photo while skippering near the North end of Bressay island.
He also captured shots of the otter disappearing into the water before snapping it 100 yards away on dry land running past a sheep.
“We know there are otters in Loch Ness,” he said.
“You can understand why some people believe in the Loch Ness Monster when you see three distant humps like this in the water.
“But as we drifted closer this we saw it was only Dratsie, one of our Bressa otters.”
Mr Wills said through binoculars it would be easy to mistake “an otter with two humps and what looks like a long neck,” for a monster.
“I’ve seen a lot of otters,” he continued.
“I’ve been doing this for 24 years – we see otters most weeks. We never see any monsters.”
Commenting on what he thinks the monster that lives in Loch Ness is, he said: “The Loch Ness monster – it’s more likely it’s an otter than a monster.”
Malcolm Robinson, an investigator into the Loch Ness enigma whose book on the subject will be published this summer, said: “There are otters and seals in Loch Ness.
“When tourism come up they may perceive normal animals in the loch for something it isn’t.”
He continued: “Some of the pictures over the years people have taken of what they believe is Nessie, after studying by experts in the field it’s become apparent that they are just otters or seals.”
He added: “I still firmly believe there is at least several large creatures inhabiting Loch Ness. There could well be an unrecorded creature that science hasn’t understood.”
Reports of a mysterious creature in Loch Ness was first emerged in the 7th century and have continued to fascinate people all over the world.
There have been several high profile photographs of what is claimed to be the monster including one that became known as ‘Surgeon’s Photograph’ first published in the national press in 1934.
The shot, now the most iconic image of Nessie, was later deemed by most to be an elaborate hoax.
Co-founder of Cryptomundo in 2005.
I have appeared in or contributed to the following TV programs, documentaries and films:
OLN's Mysterious Encounters: "Caddo Critter", Southern Fried Bigfoot, Travel Channel's Weird Travels: "Bigfoot", History Channel's MonsterQuest: "Swamp Stalker", The Wild Man of the Navidad, Destination America's Monsters and Mysteries in America: Texas Terror - Lake Worth Monster, Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot: Return to Boggy Creek and Beast of the Bayou.
I’ll buy into that for a few misidentifications. However, large humps, accounts of long neck sightings and even trails moving down (or up) the loch at high rates of speed–it’s something else.
Once again, everyone’s always looking for that silver bullet–either to prove all the sightings are bunk or to prove Nessie is this that or the next thing. There are all kinds of ways people can misidentify what they see, but one theory of misidentification does not account for the hundreds of sightings.
For a tourist or someone who doesn’t know water or the area, I’ll give it to you.
Mistake a 3 foot otter for a 30 foot monster? Sounds as believable as a 30 foot monster!
This image is a fake by Frank Searle. Oddly, Mr. Wills does not present his otter image. The whole otter being mistaken for a water-monster is something of a mystery to me. I live near bodies of water that have otters in them and have seen otters doing what they do. They will indeed present the rounded hump/humps aspect of lake monster sightings. They real problem is of size. Otters here in PA rarely grow more than 3 1/2 feet in length and may weight up to 30 pounds. Even at double that size, you get an animal the size of a large dog, not a huge water monster. When you’re out in a boat fishing, otters look like large fish or eels breaking the surface. They do not displace any large amount of water. Go to YouTube and look at otters and see if they look like huge lake monsters. While I admit that my belief in Nessie has waned over the decades, the venerable otter explanation which gets trotted out every now and again is a little too convenient and I would hope by now passe’.