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Interesting photo. Seals do not do it for me
The head is seal-like....but it's an odd picture, overall. Here's a higher resolution version
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Now I see that hi resolution image, I've gotta say I think it's three seals, two with curved backs as they dive, and one with its head out of the water. I'd be very surprised if it turns out there is a serpentine species of seal-like mammal in Loch Ness.

Is anyone tempted to question whether three seals in different states of swimming have been photoshopped together to resemble Nessie?

I think it is the clearest Nessie photo I've seen. So assuming it's not just three seals frolicking about, or three seals photoshopped into position, I guess Nessie is likely a long, undulating pinniped.
 
I was half joking. The left part is definitely a seal. The next two humps are of different colouration and shape. The seal seems to be worriedly looking back. One possibility is a giant eel chasing a seal but that would have to be a monstrously big eel.

A possibility but not a very likely one I grant you.

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I'm interested in this comment:
But it was not until he got back to his home in Nigg, Invergordon, that he noticed three humps emerging from the water which he thinks could be the elusive monster.

So he took a rather boring photograph of waves and didn't see this "creature" or it's a cropped version of a larger image. If it is a cropped version I'd like to see the uncropped image - it might give a better idea of scale and where it was photographed. There is nothing in the image to indicate that the location was Loch Ness.

I've seen plenty of seals over the years, I live near the River Tay and see them on an almost daily basis and that picture looks like three seals.
 
I'm sure we've had Nessie snaps before that it transpired were probably not taken in Loch Ness. Something that looks a bit like Nessie but could be some seals photographed in Loch Ness is intriguing; but something that looks a bit like Nessie but could be some seals that could have been photographed anywhere is probably some seals doing a Nessie impression.

I'm feeling generous and say I still sort of hope Nessie is a new, serpentine species of seal, and this is the best evidence for it. Just for fun. I always thought if herself was a real beastie, she was likely a mammal.
 
The head is seal-like....but it's an odd picture, overall. Here's a higher resolution version
ad_219465656.jpg
Where did this 'higher resolution' image come from? It doesn't tell us much more, except that the sun appears to be to the left - that would be the SW, suggesting the pic was taken in the afternoon. It's about 7 miles from Dores to
Inverfarigaig, but as Pete says there's nothing in the pic to definitely identify the position.

It may or may not be relevant that this stretch of the loch is the deepest part, over 200 m deep. (West and North of Dores the loch quickly shoals up to depths of 100 m or less, and SW of Inverfarigaig (i.e. north of Foyers) depths are less than 200 m for a while, but the 200 m depths then resume to as far SW as Invermoriston on the north shore.

But the nature of the beast is still the main problem. Snakes and eels do not swim by 'humping' their bodies but by looping their bodies sideways. A puzzle.
 
I was half joking. The left part is definitely a seal. The next two humps are of different colouration and shape. The seal seems to be worriedly looking back. One possibility is a giant eel chasing a seal but that would have to be a monstrously big eel.

A possibility but not a very likely one I grant you.

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Interesting idea.
Yes, zooming in on that photo does show a seal on the left, but the other 2 humps are a real mystery.
The European Conger Eel can grow up to 10 feet in length, but I'd say this 'thing' is bigger than that. :eek:
 
I gotta admit the enhanced photo seems to show a seals head. So this photo may not be of the famous monster. I keep going back to that famous photo that shows a very large and definite flipper. Taken a number of years ago; but still an intriguing shot. Are there seals in Loch Ness?
 
Interesting idea.
Yes, zooming in on that photo does show a seal on the left, but the other 2 humps are a real mystery.
The European Conger Eel can grow up to 10 feet in length, but I'd say this 'thing' is bigger than that. :eek:

To me the "humps" look like the backs of two seals in mid-dive.
 
The theory of giant eels in Loch Ness is not a new one...


Expert says Nessie video may be giant eel
7 January 2016 by Calum Ross

Nessie-2007.jpg

A famous “sighting” of the Loch Ness Monster may finally have been solved – but the explanation could be just as scary as a monster lurking beneath the waves.

Computer experts have used advanced techniques to analyse video of the monster shot by Nessie hunter Gordon Holmes – and claim the footage actually shows giant eels sidewinding across the loch.

Mr Holmes, of Shipley in Yorkshire, hit the headlines after capturing images of mysterious creatures from a layby on the A82 at night in 2007.

The video showed a long, jet-black shape moving close to the surface for more than two minutes as it swims towards Inverness.

Several theories have been proposed to explain the creatures in recent years, including waves, otters, a large fish, seals and even mini-tornados.

But now a world-leading expert on API (application programming interface) believes he may have solved the mystery.

Bill Appleton, chief executive of US-based firm DreamFactory, took the original footage, stabilised it to reduce camera shake and increased the level of clarity.

Mr Holmes said the study had concluded the creatures were eels between 10ft-15ft long.

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/f...87/expert-says-nessie-video-may-be-giant-eel/

Now look at that picture again. We definitely have a seal of about 5ft long but behind, and slightly to the right of the seal we have something else with different colouration and body shape about 12 -15ft long. Rynner raises the valid point that an eel or a snake moves with a lateral, or sideways undulation. However, if the creature was turned on its side, possibly going for a strike or startled by the seal, that would explain the vertical undulation.

Just a thought.
 
The Mrs says ..

"It's hard to tell, the picture has no perspective so it could be a tiny object close up .. look at the waves at the bottom of the picture." ..

Nessie experts have been saying that for years, I pointed that out to her and she said .. "Well, it's obvious isn't it ?."

 
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The Mrs says ..

"It's hard to tell, the picture has no perspective so it could be a tiny object close up .. look at the waves at the bottom of the picture." ..

Nessie experts have been saying that for years, I pointed that out to her and she said .. "Well, it's obvious isn't it ?."

There's also a shallow depth of field which means he was using his lens (I presume it was a zoom) at the long setting - which makes it stranger that he didn't notice anything until he got home and looked at the pictures.
 
Seals and Eels may explain this sighting; but no way do they explain other well documented sightings.
 
The lack of a horizon (or at least the far shoreline) makes it very hard to gauge where the picture was taken - like others here, I have doubts over whether the purported location is correct. If it's supposed to be the notoriously deep Loch Ness, it's quite odd that there appears an area of shallow water (the sand-coloured patch) beyond the creature(s). Without any other information, I would have supposed the picture to have been taken from a beach - that is, at the seaside, and not the edge of a loch.

I'm not crying "fake", but I think there are things which need to be considered about this photo before coming to a decision.
 
You make valid points. In my own view I see no sign of flippers. They could be hidden beneath the waters. The famous flipper shot which was taken from remote cameras has always fascinated me. Those pictures were produced by valid scientists studying the Loch. Unfortunately they never followed up on their findings. But the flipper was definitely from a larger animal and no one could identify what that flipper belonged to. As the Loch is quite deep; we may be surprised at what all it might hide. I understand the Loch has a lot of floating Peat particles that makes visibility, under water, very difficult.
 
If it's supposed to be the notoriously deep Loch Ness, it's quite odd that there appears an area of shallow water (the sand-coloured patch) beyond the creature(s).
...
I'm not crying "fake", but I think there are things which need to be considered about this photo before coming to a decision.
It doesn't look shallow to me - but I'm used to the play of light on water. It might be (e.g.) a bright lit cloud reflecting in the water. (Obviously the photo does not show any sky or clouds.)
 
For me, it's the colouration of the water at the bottom of the picture and the height of the waves. If I was a betting man, I'd guess 50 to 70 ft from shore.
 
You make valid points. In my own view I see no sign of flippers. They could be hidden beneath the waters. The famous flipper shot which was taken from remote cameras has always fascinated me. Those pictures were produced by valid scientists studying the Loch. Unfortunately they never followed up on their findings. But the flipper was definitely from a larger animal and no one could identify what that flipper belonged to. As the Loch is quite deep; we may be surprised at what all it might hide. I understand the Loch has a lot of floating Peat particles that makes visibility, under water, very difficult.

I thought it had been argued that the flippers were a wishful effect from a retouched indistinct blurry image.

Loch-Ness-Monster-flipper-photo-before-after-350-px-tiny-July-2013.jpg
 
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For me, it's the colouration of the water at the bottom of the picture and the height of the waves. If I was a betting man, I'd guess 50 to 70 ft from shore.
I think you may be barking up a dead horse there! If I could trust Win 10 to let me search my photo collection without deleting it entirely, I'm sure I could find all sorts of odd lighting effects to show you.

As for the height of the waves, remember Loch Ness is the largest body of fresh water in Britain - it's the nearest thing we have to an inland sea, so yes, depending on wind direction it can produce big waves.

And the newpaper account says "The apparent creature was spotted coming up for air close to the banks of the loch on Saturday afternoon midway between the villages of Dores and Inverfarigaig."
Read more at: http://www.scotsman.com/news/most-convincing-picture-of-the-loch-ness-monster-ever-taken-1-4232092
 
Where did this 'higher resolution' image come from?
http://vegassports-odds.com/2016/09/whisky-warehouse-worker-claims-to-have-convincing-loch-ness/

Website dated yesterday. Was the highest resolution version I could find during a rapid reverse Google image search (2500x1453 pixels), I suspect that's been borrowed from the Metro free newspaper online version.

An ELA gives it a remarkably-neutral pixel check http://fotoforensics.com/analysis.php?id=44fa43cf9281e6f567df82777f5d37da440dff85.378213&show=ela

The hidden metadata within the image file isn't especially interesting....pity it didn't include GPS co-ordinates (I have seen that, sometimes)

The references to SWNS are intriguing...I've not checked that at all.


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Caption-Abstract A whisky warehouse worker has taken this picture of one of the most convincing Loch Ness Monster sightings to date. See SWNS story SWNESSIE; Amateur photographer Ian Bremner, 58, was driving around the Highlands in search of red deer - but stumbled instead across the remarkable sight of what appears to be Nessie swimming in the calm waters of Loch Ness. The dad-of-four spends most of his weekends in the region taking photographs of the stunning natural beauty. But it was not until he got back to his home in Nigg, Invergordon, that he noticed three humps emerging from the water which he thinks could be the elusive monster.
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I think you may be barking up a dead horse there! If I could trust Win 10 to let me search my photo collection without deleting it entirely, I'm sure I could find all sorts of odd lighting effects to show you.

As for the height of the waves, remember Loch Ness is the largest body of fresh water in Britain - it's the nearest thing we have to an inland sea, so yes, depending on wind direction it can produce big waves.

And the newpaper account says "The apparent creature was spotted coming up for air close to the banks of the loch on Saturday afternoon midway between the villages of Dores and Inverfarigaig."
Read more at: http://www.scotsman.com/news/most-convincing-picture-of-the-loch-ness-monster-ever-taken-1-4232092

Dores and Inverfarigaig are on the same shoreline. Not opposite each other on the Loch.
50 to 70ft is pretty close to the shore. I've been there. It does produce big waves.
 
Dores and Inverfarigaig are on the same shoreline. Not opposite each other on the Loch.
I know that, ffs! I'm working with a large scale OS map here. (I earlier posted that the two places are about 7 miles apart.) If the photo was taken at their midpoint, it would have been taken opposite Urquart Bay. The loch there is almost 2 miles wide, W to E. Enough of a fetch to produce decent waves in a westerly wind.
 
Sorry Ryn. I'm just posting an estimation of the distance from the shore having been there. There are decent waves on the loch and my issue is not with the height of the waves. The Surgeon's photo was in ripples and this pic is in waves looking correct. I'm not sure lighting is the issue but for me, the colouration of the water at the bottom of the image, the depth of field and my previous sightings of seals along a shoreline lead me to think it is taken close to shore... But no more than about 100 ft away.
 
Sorry, I was not aware the flipper photo was retouched. The stories I had on the expedition didn't mention that fact; which may account for why it was so suddenly dropped. Still, the other photo, if such being the real thing, still has enough detail to be intriguing.
 
Three seals.

Jeez. I remember when spooky photos used to be at least a little spooky. Y'know...have a little mystery and intrigue about them.

I've not been this crashingly underwhelmed since the Timothy Good book "Earth: an alien enterprise" claimed to have a photo of an alien. It had a photo of a man. A tall man admittedly but a man nonetheless. Just standing there, in front of the camera having his photo taken. A man. Ffs.
 
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Three seals.

Jeez. I remember when spooky photos used to be at least a little spooky. Y'know...have a little mystery and intrigue about them.

I've not been this crashingly underwhelmed since the Timothy Good book "Earth: an alien enterprise" claimed to have a photo of an alien. It had a photo of a man. A tall man admittedly but a man nonetheless. Just standing there, in front of the camera having his photo taken. A man. Ffs.

If you feel that way, I strongly advise you not to look at some of the other photos and videos that have cropped up recently. The Caerphilly yeti, and the three legged fox thylacine in particular.
 
I think you may be barking up a dead horse there! If I could trust Win 10 to let me search my photo collection without deleting it entirely, I'm sure I could find all sorts of odd lighting effects to show you.

As for the height of the waves, remember Loch Ness is the largest body of fresh water in Britain - it's the nearest thing we have to an inland sea, so yes, depending on wind direction it can produce big waves.

And the newpaper account says "The apparent creature was spotted coming up for air close to the banks of the loch on Saturday afternoon midway between the villages of Dores and Inverfarigaig."
Read more at: http://www.scotsman.com/news/most-convincing-picture-of-the-loch-ness-monster-ever-taken-1-4232092


You might be looking at a female Conger, If they are not eaten by other prey, they can just keep growing. A mate of mine pulled one up that was thirty foot long.They bark at night, and if caught on a line will come up the beach at you.
 
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