The recent installation of new webcams around Loch Ness has led to a row among Nessie hunters as people push for webcam sightings of the elusive monster to be stricken from the official sightings register (OLNMSR). A petition has been launched by a group called the Falkirk Boys on Change.org to stop them from being used due to their "detrimental impact on the standard and myth of Nessie".
The debate began during the pandemic when people were unable to visit the loch with many resorting to using the original webcam, which sits on the banks, to scan the water for anything unusual. This then led to several online sightings by people such as regular webcam spotters Irishman Eoin O'Faodhagain and American Kalynn Wangle.
However, other fans of the mystery were quick to detract from these sightings pointing out that the quality of the camera makes it impossible to tell what is actually being viewed and some felt vindicated after one recent webcam sighting reportedly turned out to be two people on paddleboards.
Eoin thought he'd made the first official sighting of this year when he spotted a mysterious shape on the water back in March, however, Scots Richie Cameron and Stephen Noble later came forward to say that it was in fact the pair of them enjoying a spot of paddleboarding that caused the mistaken sighting, leading to it being taken down from the Register.
And it's the discussion around these sightings that has led Visit Inverness Loch Ness (VILN), who recently placed five web cameras at various places around the 23-mile long loch in hopes of making it easier for avid Nessie hunters to hopefully spot the creature, posting new rules on their own website to clarify.
The post, which was reached in conjunction with Gary Campbell, the keeper of records for the OLNMSR, read: "We are not the experts when it comes to official Nessie sightings. We understand that alongside the amazing scenery and landscapes you will see a lot of strange movements on the loch with the weather, wildlife and the odd paddleboarder (these can make a great Nessie shadow in the right light!)
"We have been asked by our friends who own the official Loch Ness Monster sighting register that you remember the cameras will not always give a clear resolution.
"We want you to spot the mystical legend that is our beloved Nessie but when making an official sighting report you must have footage of clear facial features of an unknown creature in the footage for it to be considered. To report anything you do see of this kind, email: registrar@lochnesssightings.com."
That means that no report will be considered for inclusion on the official register of sightings unless it includes "clear facial features".
However, Eoin, who recently made two sightings of giant eel-like objects via the new webcams, is not happy with the decision or the wording of the post.
He said: "In the history of Loch Ness this has never been achieved either by live photos at the Loch or on webcam. You can never say never, but it is obvious from this written policy of the VILN that no more webcam sightings are going to be put on the register.
"There have been no webcam sightings since the 19th October 2021 registered, so it is hardly surprising that webcam watchers are now facing the daunting task of trying to get a sighting registered under this new policy.
"But if you see something while at the shores of Loch Ness and have no photographic evidence of it you could be registered as an Official Sighting of Nessie the next day.
"This policy is stranger than the Loch Ness Monster, and is lacking the creditability that it is designed for."
The 57-year-old, who lives in Castlefin, Co Donegal, added that the ruling should then technically make other sightings on the register void as well, adding: "You cannot change the goalposts in the middle of a match. It is also a bit discriminatory against Nessie herself, we can only use your face in photos, to hell with the rest of your body."
Nessie experts such as Steve Feltham, who has been living on the shore and watching the loch for 31 years in a bid to solve the mystery, have welcomed the ruling after previously speaking out about the quality of webcam 'sightings'
Speaking with the Record on a previous webcam sighting, he said: "Unfortunately all these webcam images are of such poor quality that it is pure guesswork to try and identify anything, as shown by this sighting getting proven to be two people on paddleboards, that says it all really.
"Without putting these caveats upon webcam sightings there would pretty much need to be a full-time member of staff employed just to vet webcam footage that watchers believe features Nessie.
"Be that paddleboards, canoeists or flies walking across the lens. Every shadow that you can not identify is not necessarily Nessie, no matter how much you wish it to be. These criteria are a way to attempt to introduce some quality control."
He added that with the new webcams only just being installed, now is "exactly the right time" to lay down some ground rules relating to them.
Steve stated that he believes the sightings from the old webcam, which the petition relates to, do "far more damage than good" to the credibility of this "world-famous mystery".
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