Things To Do in Loch Ness

Spotting Nessie

She's affectionately known as Nessie, but her more formal name is Nessitera rhombopteryx, and she has the unflattering appellation of the Loch Ness Monster. Is she the beast that never was, or the world's most famous living animal? You decide. Real or imagined, she's Scotland's virtual mascot, and even if she doesn't exist, she's one of the major attractions of the country. Who can drive along the dark waters of Loch Ness without staring at the murky depths and expecting a head or a couple of humps to appear above the water's surface at any minute?

The latest evidence that made world headlines in June 2007 was a photograph of Nessie taken by an amateur scientist. "I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this jet black thing, about 45 feet long, moving fairly fast in the water," said Gordon Holmes, a lab technician from Yorkshire who shot footage of Nessie on May 26, 2007. The Loch Ness center at Drumnadrochit proclaimed this "as some of the best footage we've seen yet." Marine biologist Adrian Shine told news media that Holmes "panned back to get the background shore into the shot, so it's far less likely to be a fake and allows scientists to calculate the size of the creature and how fast it is going." Holmes estimated the monster's speed at about 6 mph.

If Nessie does exist, exactly who is she? A sole survivor from prehistoric times? A gigantic sea snake? It has even been suggested she's a cosmic wanderer through time. Chances are you won't see her on your visit, but you can see a fantasy replica of the sea beast at the official Loch Ness Monster Exhibition at Drumnadrochit.