By Tim Binnall
The Loch Ness Monster proved particularly elusive this past year as the official number of recognized reports dropped to a dispiriting three, the tally's lowest annual number in over a decade. Remarkably, the first on-site eyewitness account of 2024, which occurred in April, turned out to be the only one to meet the high standards of the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register, which has served as the standard bearer for Nessie cases since 1996. The two other reports to receive recognition from the site came by way of boats that captured anomalous sounds, in September, and a puzzling sonar picture, in October.
While the rather small number of reports may seem dire to some, it is not altogether out of the ordinary. To provide some perspective, 2024's total is the lowest number since 2013, when only one case received recognition. However, before that nadir, seven out of the previous 12 years featured only one or two reports that made the proverbial grade. Additionally, 2024's official tally may also be a bit misleading since the registry stopped recognizing webcam cases as they began to balloon at the start of the 2020s, which caused something of a controversy that culminated in 2022.
To that end, were such virtual sightings recognized, 2024's total would wind up being a robust 10, if not more since indefatigable monster hunter Eoin O’Faodhagain captured a bevy of possible Nessie appearances by way of the webcams that look out over the famed Scottish site. With that in mind, one need not despair for Nessie as it may have simply been a fairly normal down year for on-site sightings with, one hopes, the number poised to pick up in 2025 and beyond.