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On 12 November 1933, a man named Hugh Gray may well have started the orginal viral trend when he snapped the first known photograph of a creature lurking in Loch Ness.

Or, naysayers would argue, an unidentifiable object floating in Scotland’s famous deep waters.

Either way, the image caused a ripple effect that’s still being felt to this day, with people across the world visiting Loch Ness in the hope of getting a photo of “The Loch Ness monster” themselves.

But it hasn’t just been casual visitors.

Teams of investigators, underwater photographers and search teams have tried to find conclusive evidence of the infamous “water beast”, also known as Nessie.

In fact, the biggest search of the loch in 50 years took place over two days in August, with around 100 volunteers looking for the mysterious creature each day. The beast remained hidden throughout.

Volunteers watch the surface of Loch Ness in the Highlands of Scotland on Aug. 27, 2023, for signs of the legendary monster Nessie. Two groups undertook the biggest search for Nessie in 50 years on Aug. 26 and Aug. 27, with around 100 volunteers taking part each day.
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Volunteers watch the surface of Loch Ness. Pic: AP

Nessie Hunter vessel is seen as people take part in the largest Loch Ness Monster hunt for 50 years in Scotland, Britain, August 27, 2023
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Nessie Hunter vessel used as part of largest monster hunt for 50 years in August. Pic: AP

So are there genuine believers in a giant aquatic monster in 2023, or is Loch Ness now a mere tourist destination for travellers who want to say they’ve been?

Where it all began

The first high-profile report of a Nessie sighting was published by The Inverness Courier in 1933, after a local hotel manageress claimed she spotted a “water beast” in the loch.

Aldie Mackay described the moment she saw a “fearsome-looking monster” as she and her husband were driving near the water.

Mrs Mackay’s statement put Nessie on the map, but reported sightings at Loch Ness go all the way back to 565AD, according to historian, Professor Henry H Bauer.

The Inverness Courier’s report, along with Hugh Gray’s photo taken later that year, sparked a global and long-lasting fascination with finding the elusive monster.

Where we are now

We are now at least 1,155 official sightings in – and counting.

There have been nine logged sightings this year, with the last one coming on 7 October from a man on a coach that was passing the loch.

And much like with most jobs and hobbies, monster hunting has moved into the 21st century, with an Inverness and Loch Ness tourist site allowing you to investigate from the comfort of your home, via 24/7 CCTV across the loch.

Numerous theories have been put forward over the years, including that the creature may be a prehistoric marine reptile, a swimming circus elephant (yes, really) or, most recently, a giant eel.

Remains of a Plesiosaur, which many believe inspired the legend of the Loch Ness monster
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Remains of a Plesiosaur, the dinosaur which many believe inspired the legend of the Loch Ness monster

‘Real or not, it’s a win-win’

Willie Cameron, known widely by locals as “Mr Loch Ness”, is the founder of Loch Ness Marketing, a company providing services to film and media crews on location at the loch.

He estimates that this year alone, around two million tourists from around the world have visited Loch Ness, “probably generating in excess of £55m to the economy”.

Willie Cameron, known as "Mister Loch Ness," shows photos of his sighting of an unknown animal creature in Loch Ness. In Scotland on Saturday began what is believed to be the largest search for the Loch Ness monster, called Nessie, in decades.
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Willie Cameron shows photos of his sighting of an unknown creature in Loch Ness. Pic: AP

“Interest globally has never, ever been higher” in the monster, he adds.

When asked if he thinks there’s a scenario where the search for Nessie stops, the 72-year-old says: “Even if artificial intelligence came out tomorrow with 100 reasons why there is nothing in Loch Ness, trust me, 50% of people would believe that there is something in Loch Ness.

“We’re in a win-win situation. If it’s there, it’s there, if it’s not, it’s not going to make one iota of a difference. People love a mystery.”

The entrepreneur, who says his father had a potential sighting in 1965, told Sky News he also saw something “most unusual” in the loch in August 2016.

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A holidaymaker claims she may have taken a photograph of the legendary Loch Ness Monster

He adds that he knows plenty of people who say they’ve seen the monster, but would never speak to the media or officially log their sightings “for fear of being ridiculed”.

One cannot be blamed for feeling sceptical; the single certainty when it comes to Nessie is that there has never been any conclusive evidence she exists.

In fact, the most famous depiction of the beast, first published in 1934, was revealed to be a hoax in the 1990s.

FILE - This undated file photo shows a shadowy shape that some people say is a the Loch Ness monster in Scotland, later debunked as a hoax. The Loch Ness Centre in Scotland is calling for ...budding monster hunters... and volunteers to join in what it dubs the largest search for the Loch Ness Monster since the 1970s. The visitor attraction said Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023, that modern technology such as drones that produces thermal images of the lake will ...search the waters in a way that has never been done before....  (AP Photo/File)
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The ‘Surgeon’s Photograph’ in 1934 of the apparent monster was later confirmed a hoax

It begs the question: if we can’t trust a photo from the 1930s, how are we supposed to have faith in the age of Photoshop and AI modification?

Nurse by day, monster-sighting registrar by night

That’s where sightings gatekeeper Paige Daley comes in.

Ms Daley recently took over the official Loch Ness monster sightings register from her father, Gary Campbell, who also started the Loch Ness Monster Fan Club in 1996 after he had a potential Nessie sighting himself.

The site logs all known sightings dating back to early medieval England.

“I’m a nurse by day,” Ms Daley tells Sky News, “and then I spend the rest of my time looking into the Loch Ness monster and mystery of Loch Ness, trying to work out what’s going on.

“We receive hundreds of sightings through the year of unexplained things in Loch Ness. But it does go through a verification process.

“We’ve got to weed out what could be an actual occurrence in Loch Ness, what could be a hoax, and what does actually come down to being something unexplained that could be the monster.”

Is This The Loch Ness Monster - Man Takes Picture Of Creature In Loch Ness. Steve Challice/Cover Images
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Steve Challice is another member of the public who claims to have spotted the monster while on holiday in 2020. Pic: Steve Challice/Cover Images/AP

Ms Daley says she carries out a list of tasks before formally logging a sighting:

  • Assessing the background and foreground of images to make sure it’s Loch Ness and not a random body of water
  • Ruling out things that could be naturally occurring in Loch Ness. She says people sometimes send photos of what can be dismissed as ducks or seals, wakes from boats, or even scuba divers making bubbles in the water
  • With some sightings, contacting academics who have degrees in marine biology, to get their take.

She may also log sightings where no photo was taken – but anyone contacting her should expect an interrogation about what they saw.

“I think there is a heavy weighting towards people feeling that it is a true touristy gimmick,” Ms Daley admits.

“However, I feel that every person who does go there deep inside them believes that they truly could capture a glimpse of the Loch Ness monster.

“We’ve had over a thousand sightings of this unexplained creature at Loch Ness, so it may be an easy copout for people to say it’s a tourist attraction instead of looking at the evidence suggesting that there is something unexplained in Loch Ness.

“It’s amazing to see that 90 years ago, the world got the first glimpse of the Loch Ness Monster and that 90 years later, we’re still getting submissions.”

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Enthusiasts descended on the Scottish lake in a large search for the mythical creature in August

The scientist who didn’t quite rule it out

Professor Neil Gemmell, a scientist at the University of Otago in New Zealand, led a major international monster hunt at Loch Ness in June 2018.

He took 250 water samples from various depths, hoping to identify the tiny fragments of DNA that skin, feathers, scales and urine leave behind and compared it with known species.

It was from this study’s findings that the giant eel theory was born.

“There is a very significant amount of eel DNA. Eels are very plentiful in Loch Ness,” Prof Gemmell said when sharing the findings.

“Our data doesn’t reveal their size, but the sheer quantity of the material says that we can’t discount the possibility that there may be giant eels in Loch Ness.”

He added: “For the people who still want to believe in monsters, there is still a lot of uncertainty in our work.”

The professor wanted to search the lake to showcase the science of eDNA to the world.

He floated the idea on social media in 2016, expecting little interest. But a Scottish newspaper picked it up and “all hell broke loose”, Prof Gemmell told Sky News.

“I was getting phone calls and requests for interviews,” he said.

“Suddenly I was the New Zealander who was going to go hunting this monster using DNA technologies… I hadn’t actually done a damn thing yet. I’d just opened my mouth and said we could do it.

“I’ve never had that level of interest in any of my other science. My kids, who were about five and eight at the time, and all their friends were really excited by it.

“So I sat there and thought to myself, ‘You know, they don’t get excited about my other work. Maybe, I could take a few people – and myself – on a bit of an adventure’.”

He says he still receives emails about the monster to this day. Some of them are children’s drawings of Nessie, which the professor says are “always fun”.

His personal favourite piece of mail, he adds, was a five-page letter, “beautifully embossed” by someone claiming to be from a Scottish university, detailing a wild conspiracy involving the Official Secrets Act, the British military and the revelation that the Loch Ness monster was in fact a camel in a wetsuit.

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His interactions with Loch Ness enthusiasts has led him to conclude that “there are people who genuinely, fervently believe” in the monster, “and there’s others who exploit it”.

The man who gave up his job, girlfriend and house for Nessie

There are those who believe, and those who believe.

Steve Feltham holds the Guinness World Record for “the longest continuous vigil for the Loch Ness Monster”, with 32 years under his belt – and counting.

“I very much arrived here with a mission statement to prove to the world that this mystery warrants investigation,” he tells Sky News.

“But now, I’m doing it primarily for the satisfaction of my lifelong fascination, and anything I discover along the way that then seeps into the public domain is a bonus. It’s no longer my mission to convince the world.”

Mr Feltham speaks to us from his once-mobile library van – which he has dubbed “the research van” – now permanently located on Dores Beach, Loch Ness.

Monster hunter Steve poses outside of his van. Pic: Steve Feltham
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Monster hunter Steve Feltham outside his van. Pic: Steve Feltham

It’s been his home since he left his job as a burglar alarm installer, broke up with his long-term partner and sold his house in Dorset to pursue full-time monster hunting in 1991 – a dream born from visiting the loch with his parents when he was seven.

The 60-year-old has now spent more than half of his life watching over the Scottish waters, living off profits from handmaking and selling Nessie models to tourists.

In that time, he’s only had one near-sighting; when he saw something go through the water “like a torpedo”, with water spraying off the back of the object.

That was more than 30 years ago.

Asked if he’s still confident of spotting the infamous water beast, he says: “Well believe I’m in the right place to find it. Definitely.”

Steve looks over the loch from outside his van. Pic: Steve Feltham
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Mr Feltham looks over the loch. Pic: Steve Feltham

Pic: Steve Feltham
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Pic: Steve Feltham

Mr Feltham suspects Nessie is most likely to be a Wels catfish – one of the world’s largest freshwater fish – though he admits “we don’t have enough information yet to give a definitive answer”.

There are no guarantees in the monster-hunting trade. If he spends the rest of his life on Dores Beach and never finds Nessie, would he still stand by his life decisions?

“Good God, yes,” he assures us. “I spent 10 years in the rat race and at the age of 28 decided that it wasn’t for me and that there were other things I would rather do with my life.

“Following my passion, my dream, and being fully involved in a wonderful mystery on all sorts of levels… it’s the place I’m meant to be.”

A monster hunter’s legacy

Asked about what he wants to be remembered for, Mr Feltham says: “I want other people to remember that they don’t have to live a mundane life, doing something they really don’t want to do.

“If they’ve got a dream to do something else – to be a painter or be a singer, or go live in America or whatever their passion is – I’m here to say it doesn’t matter how odd that is. I mean, it’s quite an off-the-wall pursuit that I’ve chosen.

“But whatever they do,” he warns, “I certainly don’t want those people to come and sit in a camper van and try to solve this mystery! I want them to go on their own adventure.”

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Zhenhao Zou: More than 20 new potential victims come forward after ‘prolific’ rapist jailed for assaulting 10 women

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Zhenhao Zou: More than 20 new potential victims come forward after 'prolific' rapist jailed for assaulting 10 women

Another 23 female potential victims have reported that they may have been raped by Zhenhao Zou – the Chinese PhD student detectives believe may be one of the country’s most prolific sex offenders.

The Metropolitan Police launched an international appeal after Zou, 28, was convicted of drugging and raping 10 women following a trial at the Inner London Crown Court last month.

Detectives have not confirmed whether the 23 people who have come forward add to their estimates that more than 50 other women worldwide may have been targeted by the University College London student.

Metropolitan Police commander Kevin Southworth said: “We have victims reaching out to us from different parts of the globe.

“At the moment, the primary places where we believe offending may have occurred at this time appears to be both in England, here in London, and over in China.”

Metropolitan Police commander Kevin Southworth
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Metropolitan Police commander Kevin Southworth

Zou lived in a student flat in Woburn Place, near Russell Square in central London, and later in a flat in the Uncle building in Churchyard Row in Elephant and Castle, south London.

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He had also been a student at Queen’s University Belfast, where he studied mechanical engineering from 2017 until 2019. Police say they have not had any reports from Belfast but added they were “open-minded about that”.

“Given how active and prolific Zou appears to have been with his awful offending, there is every prospect that he could have offended anywhere in the world,” Mr Southworth said.

“We wouldn’t want anyone to write off the fact they may have been a victim of his behaviour simply by virtue of the fact that you are from a certain place.

“The bottom line is, if you think you may have been affected by Zhenhao Zou or someone you know may have been, please don’t hold back. Please make contact with us.”

***ONLY USE IF HE IS CONVICTED OF AT LEAST TWO RAPES***It is feared Zou may have carried out dozens more sex crimes. Pic: Met Police
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Pic: Met Police

Zou used hidden or handheld cameras to record his attacks, and kept the footage and often the women’s belongings as souvenirs.

He targeted young, Chinese women, inviting them to his flat for drinks or to study, before drugging and assaulting them.

Zou was convicted of 11 counts of rape, with two of the offences relating to one victim, as well as three counts of voyeurism, 10 counts of possession of an extreme pornographic image, one count of false imprisonment and three counts of possession of a controlled drug with intent to commit a sexual offence, namely butanediol.

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Moment police arrest rapist student

Mr Southworth said: “Of those 10 victims, several were not identified so as we could be sure exactly where in the world they were, but their cases, nevertheless, were sufficient to see convictions at court.

“There were also, at the time, 50 videos that were identified of further potential female victims of Zhenhao Zou’s awful crimes.

“We are still working to identify all of those women in those videos.

“We have now, thankfully, had 23 victim survivors come forward through the appeal that we’ve conducted, some of whom may be identical with some of the females that we saw in those videos, some of whom may even turn out to be from the original indicted cases.”

Mr Southworth added: “Ultimately, now it’s the investigation team’s job to professionally pick our way through those individual pieces of evidence, those individual victims’ stories, to see if we can identify who may have been a victim, when and where, so then we can bring Zou to justice for the full extent of his crimes.”

Mr Southworth said more resources will be put into the investigation, and that detectives are looking to understand “what may have happened without wishing to revisit the trauma, but in a way that enables [the potential victims] to give evidence in the best possible way.”

The Metropolitan Police is appealing to anyone who thinks they may have been targeted by Zou to contact the force either by emailing survivors@met.police.uk, or via the major incident public portal on the force’s website.

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Girl, 11, who went missing after entering River Thames named

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Girl, 11, who went missing after entering River Thames named

An 11-year-old girl who went missing after entering the River Thames has been named as Kaliyah Coa.

An “extensive search” has been carried out after the incident in east London at around 1.30pm on Monday.

Police said the child had been playing during a school inset day and entered the water near Barge House Causeway, North Woolwich.

A recovery mission is now said to be under way to find Kaliyah along the Thames, with the Metropolitan Police carrying out an extensive examination of the area.

Location of Barge House Causeway, North Woolwich, where 11-year-old girl Kaliyah Coa went into the River Thames on 31/03
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Barge House Causeway is a concrete slope in North Woolwich leading into the Thames

Chief Superintendent Dan Card thanked members of the public and emergency teams who responded to “carry out a large-scale search during a highly pressurised and distressing time”.

He also confirmed drone technology and boats were being used to “conduct a thorough search over a wide area”.

He added: “Our specialist officers are supporting Kaliyah’s family through this deeply upsetting time and our thoughts go out to all those impacted by what has happened.”

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“Equally we appreciate this has affected the wider community who have been extremely supportive. You will see extra officers in the area during the coming days.”

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On Monday, Kerry Benadjaoud, a 62-year-old resident from the area, said she heard of the incident from her next-door neighbour, who “was outside doing her garden and there was two little kids running, and they said ‘my friend’s in the water'”.

When she arrived at the scene with a life ring, a man told her he had called the police, “but he said at the time he could see her hands going down”.

Barge House Causeway is a concrete slope that goes directly into the River Thames and is used to transport boats.

Residents pointed out that it appeared to be covered in moss and was slippery.

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Planning reforms to ‘rewire the system’ and get Britain building – all while protecting wildlife

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Planning reforms to 'rewire the system' and get Britain building - all while protecting wildlife

Major developers will only deal with one regulator under planning reforms which ministers say will “rewire the system” to get Britain building – all while protecting the environment. 

A review by former Labour adviser Dan Corry into Britain’s sluggish system of green regulation has concluded that existing environmental regulators should remain in place, while rejecting a “bonfire of regulations”.

But Mr Corry suggested there might be circumstances in which the government look at changing the wildlife and habit rules inherited from the EU, which protect individual species.

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The government has now explicitly ruled out any such change in this parliament.

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Campaigners have questioned whether the changes go far enough and will make a major difference to the rate and scale of building in the UK.

Speaking to Sky News, Environment Secretary Steve Reed insisted that accepting nine of the recommendations from the Corry review would amount to wholesale reform.

The minister said: “We can get a win-win for economic growth and for nature. And that is why we are moving ahead with proposals such as appointing a lead regulator for major developments so that the developers don’t have to navigate the architecture of multiple regulators.

“They just work for a single regulator who manages all the others on their behalf. Simplifying the online planning portal.

“These are huge changes that will save developers billions of pounds and speed up decisions doing damage to the environment.”

Mr Reed insisted that there would be “no more bat tunnels” built, even though the Corry review suggests that more work needs to be done to look again at the relevant guidance.

It says: “Rapidly reviewing the existing catalogue of compliance guidance, including on protecting bats, will identify opportunities to remove duplication, ambiguity or inconsistency.

“Natural England has already agreed to review and update their advice to Local Planning Authorities on bats to ensure there is clear, proportionate and accessible advice available.”

The review will mean:

• Appointing one lead regulator for every major infrastructure project, like Heathrow expansion

• A review on how nature rules are implemented – but not the rules themselves

• Insisting regulators focus more on government priorities, particularly growth

Economist and former charity leader Mr Corry, who led the review, said it shows that “simply scrapping regulations isn’t the answer”.

“Instead we need modern, streamlined regulation that is easier for everyone to use. While short-term trade-offs may be needed, these reforms will ultimately deliver a win-win for both nature and economic growth in the longer run.”

However, Sam Richards from Britain Remade, a thinktank trying to get Britain growing, said that while the steps are welcome, the number of regulators that report to the environment department would remain the same before and after the review. He questioned whether this would have the impact ministers claimed.

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