The water was dead calm. It was a crisp morning at Dores Beach, the kind of day where the surface of Loch Ness looks more like a sheet of dark glass than a body of water. Then, something moved. Not a boat, not a bird, but a heavy, dark mass rising just enough to break the mirror-like stillness.
That was the start of 2025.
Honestly, if you’ve been following the news lately, you know the latest Loch Ness monster sighting isn't just one isolated event. We are currently seeing a massive resurgence in reports. In late 2025, a visitor named Mishawn Mielke was at Urquhart Castle—arguably the most iconic spot on the entire loch—when she saw a black head pop up out of nowhere. She described a distinct pattern in the water, a wake that didn't match the surrounding ripples. It was there, and then it was gone.
People love to roll their eyes at Nessie. They call it a tourist trap. But when you talk to the people who spend their lives staring at that water, the tone changes. It's less about "monsters" and more about the "unexplained."
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The 2025 Reports: A Timeline of the Unexplained
The Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register, run by Gary Campbell, has been surprisingly busy. It's not just blurry photos anymore. We’re seeing sonar readings and trail cam footage that actually makes you pause.
Take Roland Watson’s discovery in June 2025. He’s 63, a veteran enthusiast who doesn't just chase shadows. He strapped a trail camera to a tree near Inverfarigaig. It snapped three photos in quick succession at 6:18 am. What it caught was a large hump, roughly a meter long, moving from left to right. He thinks it might be a rare, exotic fish rather than a prehistoric dinosaur. That's the thing—the modern "hunter" is often more scientific than the tabloids suggest.
Major sightings from the last year:
- January 29, 2025: A "dark mass" spotted at Dores Beach. The water was unusually still for winter, making the disturbance stand out like a sore thumb.
- March 22, 2025: A couple from London at Fort Augustus heard a "quiet splash" and saw a pale hump moving through the jet-black water.
- May 23, 2025: A visitor at Urquhart Bay used binoculars to track something "long and thin" popping up in a boat's wake. It lasted for five minutes.
- October 28, 2025: The Urquhart Castle sighting by Mishawn Mielke involving a 3-meter-long water pattern.
It’s easy to dismiss one person. It’s a lot harder to dismiss five or six separate reports from different vantage points using different tech.
Why the "Eel Theory" is Winning Over Scientists
You've probably heard the "plesiosaur" idea. It’s the classic image: long neck, flippers, prehistoric survivor. It’s also probably wrong.
In recent years, environmental DNA (eDNA) studies have changed the game. Professor Neil Gemmell of the University of Otago led a massive study that basically ruled out large reptiles. There's no dinosaur DNA in that water. But there is a staggering amount of eel DNA.
Huge eels.
European eels (Anguilla anguilla) are all over the loch. While most stay small, the theory is that a few might just... keep growing. If an eel doesn't migrate to the Sargasso Sea to spawn, it stays in the loch. It gets bigger. And bigger. Could a three-meter eel look like a "sea serpent" when it breaks the surface? Absolutely.
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The Mystery of the Deep Sonar
Shaun Sloggie, a local cruise boat skipper, recently captured a sonar reading that sent shockwaves through the community. Sonar doesn't hallucinate. It doesn't see "shadows" from the clouds. It pings off solid objects.
His reading showed a significant mass deep down, far larger than the typical Atlantic salmon or brown trout found in the Highland waters. This happened just days before October 24, 2025. When a veteran skipper who spends 300 days a year on the water says he’s seen something weird on his screen, people listen.
Loch Ness is deep. Really deep. At 750 feet, you could submerge the Golden Gate Bridge and still have room to spare. The peat-stained water is so dark that visibility for divers is basically zero after the first few meters. We know more about the surface of the moon than we do about the bottom of this loch.
How to Actually "See" Nessie
If you're heading to the Highlands to find the latest Loch Ness monster sighting yourself, don't just stand on the shore with a phone. You'll likely just see a boat wake and get disappointed.
First, go to the south side. Most tourists stick to the A82 on the north side. It’s noisy. It’s crowded. The south side—around Foyers or Inverfarigaig—is quiet. It's where the trail cams are.
Second, watch the weather. The best sightings almost always happen when the water is "mirror-calm." When there's a breeze, the whitecaps hide everything. You want those dead-still mornings where even a duck moving creates a ripple you can see for half a mile.
Third, use the webcams. There are now several high-definition live feeds positioned around the loch. Eoin O’Faodhagain, a prolific register contributor, has recorded dozens of sightings from his home in Ireland just by watching these feeds. He caught a significant one in February 2025—a shape rising and submerging four times in the same spot.
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What Most People Get Wrong
Most people think the mystery is "solved" every time a hoax is revealed. They remember the 1934 "Surgeon's Photograph" being a toy submarine and assume everything else is a fake too.
But the locals? They aren't looking for a monster. They're looking for the truth.
The Loch Ness Centre in Drumnadrochit recently underwent a massive £1.5 million renovation. It’s not a museum of myths; it’s a research hub. They work with NASA, the University of Aberdeen, and Loch Ness Exploration. They are looking for thermal anomalies, acoustic signals, and new eDNA signatures.
Is there a biological "monster"? Probably not in the Hollywood sense. Is there something large, alive, and unidentified living in those depths? The data says it’s possible.
Your Next Steps at Loch Ness
If you want to contribute to the search or just experience the mystery without the kitsch, here is how to do it right.
Stay in a village like Dores or Foyers instead of the main hubs. These spots have better vantage points and less light pollution if you're watching the water at dusk. Bring a pair of 10x42 binoculars—anything less won't give you the detail you need at a distance.
If you see something, don't just take a photo. Note the exact time, the weather conditions, and how long the object stayed visible. Check for nearby boats or buoy markers that might explain the wake. If you’re convinced it’s unexplained, you can submit your findings directly to the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register via their website.
The mystery isn't dying. If anything, with better cameras and more "eyes" on the water through global webcams, the latest Loch Ness monster sighting is just the beginning of a new chapter in a centuries-old story. Keep your eyes on the water.