Man who studied Loch Ness Monster for 50 years: It doesn’t exist

By Elizabeth Hunter

A scientist who has spent 50 years studying Loch Ness and the stories of “Nessie” has now said it doesn’t exist.

Naturalist Adrian Shine, 76, moved to the Highlands from his home in Surrey in 1973 after becoming fascinated by sea serpents.

He founded the Loch Ness Project - a research and natural history enterprise to explore the depths of the lake and the monster tales.

Adrian has since spent decades studying the stories around the famous Loch Ness Monster.

He has now said he has enough evidence to declare that the Loch Ness Monster is only a legend - built from decades of perceptions caused by natural phenomena.

He has made his revelation in his new book, “A Naturalist’s View of the Loch Ness Enigma”.

He said: “As a small boy, I saw my first sea serpent on the east coast of England in 1957, and learned about the Loch Ness Monster that year.

“By 1975, I became skeptical - people reported seeing large animals, but it doesn’t mean what they were seeing was large animals.

“I’ve not been searching for the Loch Ness Monster for 50 years - I’ve pursued an interest in what people were seeing.

“The Loch Ness Monster in public terms is a myth, so what I’ve done is to seek substance beyond and behind the myth.

“The Loch Ness Monster is one of the most pervasive and persistent modern myths of our time.

“I tried to follow the rationale of what was done - some of the investigative efforts going through from surface observation to sonar.

“Then I go on to talk about the red herrings - the Nessie photographs - and exposing and explaining some of those.

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“My basic position is that eyewitnesses are honest, they are sober, and they are very often reporting their perception of what is there.”

In 1987, he led Operation Deepscan, which saw 24 boats carrying a full-length sonar sweep of the loch’s waters.

And in 1994, he was in charge of the Rosetta Project, which drilled six 19-foot-deep “time capsule” sediment cores from the bed of Loch Ness.

Adrian, after 50 years of observing the loch and the people who report mysterious sightings on it, says his research cannot fully prove the non-existence of the monster.

But he hopes that his work serves as a reminder to be careful of trusting our own senses.

While the monster itself does not exist, he believes, the myths around it are very real.

“Now I’m signing off,” he said. “I’m hoping people pause for thought as to how definite we should be in our opinions, particularly based on what we see.

“On the one hand, I’m saying there is substance behind the myth.

“The things people describe are truly things that are due to the unique properties of Loch Ness - other things would happen on other waters, but would be interpreted differently.

“The witnesses are not being impugned in this - they are being vindicated.

“The Loch Ness Monster is no less real or no less a thing than all the other illusions within nature that we attach names to.

“I have not killed the Loch Ness Monster - I’ve written a manual.”

Although Shine is now semi-retired from the project, he is still seen often at the Loch Ness Centre in Drumnadrochit where he lives.