SIGHTINGS of the elusive Loch Ness monster are set for a bumper season after a sixth reported appearance this year.
The fabled loch monster, affectionately known as Nessie, is usually spotted around six times in an entire year.
But the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register reveals that number was reached earlier this month.
The beast was spotted from Dores, near Inverness, Highland, when a tourist from England noticed “something huge in the water”.
According to the sightings register, operated by records keeper Gary Campbell, the man was with three friends at the Dores Inn when they spotted the creature.
The register stated: “Mr Stuparich and three friends were out walking from the Dores Inn to Tor Point.
“As they came to the shore on the point all four saw something huge in the water.
“They said it was an unusual shape – it arched out of the water then turned and went down underwater.
“The sighting took place at 3.41pm and lasted about 10 seconds.”
The sighting on 22nd August comes after another appearance from Nessie on the live Loch Ness Webcam.
A woman from Canada was keeping a close eye on the live streaming webcam last month when she spotted something in the loch.
The sightings register stated: “Paula from Canada took a video from the Loch Ness Webcam at 7pm.
“It shows an unknown object moving slowly north on the loch near Urquhart Castle.”
Whilst on 22nd June the register noted: “Mr Jackson and his wife, visiting from Australia snapped something in the loch four miles south of Urquhart Castle at 5.18pm in the afternoon. The sighting lasted about five minutes.”
Another sighting was registered by Paula from Canada on 12 June 2017, again from the live webcam.
The report read: “Paula from Canada took a five minute video from the Loch Ness webcam at 11.20am.
“It shows an unknown object moving slowly down the middle of the loch towards Fort Augustus. This was similar to the further recoding she took on 26th June, above.”
The second sighting was recorded on 1 May, the registered noted: “Ms Johnson from Manchester was at Urquhart Bay taking pictures at dusk when she spotted a dark shape in the water, higher than the waves.”
With the first sighting of the year taking place 28 April, according to the report: “A Ms Cairney from Dunbartonshire was at the loch with three of her friends when they saw a 20m long series of waves move at about 5mph along the surface 500m out.
“It came out of nowhere and then disappeared the same way – they have confirmed that there was no boat traffic in the area. The sighting took place at 3pm from a layby on the A82 road between Drumnadrochit and Inverness.”
In 2016 there were a record seven sightings of the monster while Nessie had a quiet 2015, only appearing five times.
