Reports of the Loch Ness Monster have risen this year, though a researcher who studies the sightings says the increase is not evidence that the legendary creature exists.
The Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register lists 15 reports for 2026, more than twice the six recorded in 2025. The accounts come from people visiting or living near Loch Ness, a freshwater lake in the Scottish Highlands about 20 miles southwest of Inverness.
One American visitor reported seeing a dark, greenish-gray shape rise out of the water in March. He said it remained visible for around five seconds before disappearing, and appeared distinct from the waves.
In July, a local sailor described seeing what looked like an unusually large crocodile head above the water. It vanished before he could take a picture, he said. The sailor continued to Fort Augustus without seeing anything else.
A visitor from Malta reported a sighting in August, describing a large eel-like animal moving against the current. The register said he estimated it was at least seven meters long, or about 23 feet.
Charles Paxton, a research fellow in statistical ecology at the University of St. Andrews, said the rise in reports from one year to the next was not unusual. Sightings fluctuate considerably, he said.
Paxton traces the modern wave of Nessie reports to the 1930s, particularly 1933 and 1934. The stories drew so many tourists that traffic built up around the loch. In 1934, local officials cut their tourism advertising budget, Paxton said, believing the publicity was no longer needed.
Interest later waned, then picked up again in the 1960s, when the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau began gathering reports. Since the 1970s, sightings have generally declined, though the numbers continue to vary from year to year.
Despite its name, the sightings register is not an official database, Paxton said. Various people collect reports, but the website has become a central place for the public to submit them.
Paxton and his colleagues have examined patterns in the reports, partly to understand how cultural influences might shape what people say they have seen. Statistics can help researchers explore the causes of unusual experiences, he said.
He does not think people who report seeing Nessie are making up their stories. Possible explanations include animals, boat wakes, waves caused by wind, or floating vegetation. In Paxton’s view, reports of the monster may have many different sources.
