Gary Campbell has issued this press release:

Loch Ness Monster goes missing after 90 years

Last year brought disappointing news for Nessie lovers across the world. For the first time since 1925, no confirmed sightings were made at the famous loch in 2013. In fact, no-one has seen her for the last 18 months.

Gary Campbell, Registrar of Sightings at the loch said “It’s very upsetting news and we don’t know where she’s gone. The number of sightings has been reducing since the turn of the century but this is the first time in almost 90 years that Nessie wasn’t seen at all”

The bad news came to light when a panel of experts commissioned by bookmakers William Hill reviewed the entries into their annual Nessie spotting prize draw. William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams said “although we had three entries, one was a wave, one a duck and the other wasn’t from Loch Ness – even the one other sighting for the year that wasn’t entered was a video of a wave”

A number of theories have been proposed for the lack of sightings. In 2008, veteran Nessie hunter Robert Rines of the US based Academy of Applied Science stated that global warming was affecting Nessie’s habitat and could kill her off. Rines took the famous ‘flipper’ photo of Nessie in the early 1970s. It has also been thought that the explosion of digital media has played a large part in the drop.

“Pretty much everyone now carries a camera with them in their smart phone” explained Gary Campbell “this allows then to snap what they’re seeing and means that we don’t just have to rely on eyewitness evidence. As last year has shown, all the pictures and videos taken can prove to the expert eye that it wasn’t Nessie that was being filmed”

Experts at the loch are appealing for anyone with new evidence from 2013 come forward. “It could be good for them” said Rupert Adams “ we’ve now more than doubled the odds of finding proof that Nessie exists to 250-1 and we’ve done a ‘monster rollover’ on the prize meaning that this year’s winner could be taking away £2000”

Gary Campbell is still keeping the faith. A Chartered Accountant based in Inverness, he has been logging Nessie sightings for the past 17 years since seeing something in the loch himself. As Registrar of Sightings, he’s compiled a comprehensive list of Nessie sightings that starts 1500 years ago. “So far 1036 reported sightings have been recorded and there were some in 2012. I’m convinced that Nessie has just taken some time out and will be back with a vengeance this year”.

The Loch Ness Monster was first spotted by Irish missionary St Columba in 565AD. The legend came to the world’s attention in 1933 when a local paper ran a story “A strange spectacle on Loch Ness”. All recorded sightings can be found here. Any claim on the 250-1 odds with William Hill have to be verified by the Fish Curator at the Natural History Museum in London.