A big-game hunter named Marmaduke Wetherall went to Loch Ness in 1933 in the hope of bagging his most significant kill, but all he found was a suspicious footprint on the shore. A cast of the footprint revealed it was a hoax – possibly by Wetherall himself – made with a hippopotamus foot umbrella stand. The quest for the Loch Ness Monster. Loch Ness Monster Free Games & Activities for Kids. Nessie's Story. The Beast of Loch Ness. Black Pudding and the Loch Ness Monster. Monsters of Mystery (National Geographic) Animal Games. Main Index Educational Games Safety Games Toy Games.

Video shows the Loch Ness Monster could really just be a large eel

A video posted by the Ness Fishery Board supports a running theory that the Loch Ness Monster could actually just be a large eel.

The theory that the fabled Loch Ness Monster could be a giant eel has been given a boost, thanks to a video posted to social media showing a long, slender creature swimming in the River Ness.

The Ness Fishery Board tweeted the video on Sept. 1, just days prior to New Zealand researcher Neil Gemmells' press conference, where he revealed the results of his study and said it's possible the legendary creature could be a giant eel.

'Lets (sic) be honest - when you see a large, eel shaped object passing your camera in the River Ness, the first thing you think of is [the] #lochnessmonster,' the organization wrote.

The Ness Fishery Board is a 'statutory body responsible for the protection and enhancement of salmon & sea trout fisheries in the Ness District,' according to its Facebook page.

The River Ness is a 6-mile long river that flows from the northern end of Loch Ness to Inverness. News of the video was originally reported by The Times of London.

Earlier this month, Gemmell gave his 'plausible' explanation for what people may have seen in the loch in the past but added that it is most certainly not a dinosaur.

'We can't find any evidence of a creature that's remotely related to that in our environmental-DNA sequence data,' Gemmell said, according to the BBC. 'So, sorry, I don't think the plesiosaur idea holds up based on the data that we have obtained.'

'There is a very significant amount of eel DNA,' Gemmell, a geneticist from New Zealand's University of Otago, added. 'Eels are very plentiful in Loch Ness, with eel DNA found at pretty much every location sampled – there are a lot of them. So, are they giant eels? Well, our data doesn't reveal their size, but the sheer quantity of the material says that we can't discount the possibility that there may be giant eels in Loch Ness.'

He continued: 'Therefore we can't discount the possibility that what people see and believe is the Loch Ness monster might be a giant eel.'

Richard Freeman, of the Center for Fortean Zoology, told The Times that the eel theory has not squashed the idea of a monster, but in fact, has done the opposite. 'I don't believe the eel theory has killed off the Loch Ness Monster, quite the reverse in fact,' Freeman said. 'A giant eel, which can grow up to 30 feet, is a monster in every sense of the word.'

Loch Ness Monster Games online, free

European eels can grow up to 5 feet, according to the USGS. They have a diet that consists of insect larvae, mollusks, worms and crustaceans. They're also able to 'survive near freezing temperatures' and are seen as 'remarkably mobile,' capable of moving over dams, weirs and even land, adding credence to Gemmell's findings.

Gemmell, who first announced the study in May 2018, said last month that one theory was 'plausible' in attempting to explain the fabled Nessie. In addition, the ideas that sturgeon or Greenland sharks lived in the loch were also put to rest after Gemmell said no DNA of either creature had been found among the 250 water samples taken from various depths.

Gemmell's research was established to find what types of plants and animals live in the loch and not specifically to find the mythical creature, but he conceded that his work did add to the legend.

'People love a mystery, we've used science to add another chapter to Loch Ness' mystique,' he said, according to the BBC.

One of Scotland's oldest myths, the story that a creature was living in Loch Ness, dates back to the sixth century. The 19th and 20th centuries, in particular, saw an increase in interest, especially after the infamous 'surgeon's photograph' in 1934. This photograph was later proven to be a hoax.

FILE -This is the infamous surgeon's photograph, taken in 1934, that was purported to show the Loch Ness monster in Scotland. It was later proven to be a hoax. (AP Photo, File)

A study published in April suggested that the legend of the Loch Ness monster and other long-necked 'sea monsters' may have been influenced by something very real and even more terrifying — dinosaurs.

The legend of the Loch Ness monster has commonly been attributed to a plesiosaur that somehow managed to survive the mass extinction event that killed off the dinosaurs.

New scientific study suggests Loch Ness Monster 'might' be real

Researchers analyzing the biodiversity of Loch Ness are unable to rule out the existence of the Loch Ness Monster. After taking DNA samples from the lake's many water-dwelling creatures, scientists could not conclude that the elusive monster is purely mythical.

A major scientific study of Loch Ness has sensationally discovered Nessie 'might' - be real.

Experts traveled the length of the famous loch on research vessel Deepscan taking water samples from three different depths.

The scientists collected DNA left by all creatures from their skin, scales, feathers, fur, feces.

The DNA samples were then sent to labs in New Zealand, Australia, Denmark, and France to be analyzed for the final findings.

Professor Neil Gemmell of the University of Otago, New Zealand and his team who carried out the project have now concluded their research.

The prof - an expert in genomics, ecology, population, conservation and evolutionary biology - now says the results were 'surprising'.

He says they tested the data against most of the main theories about the Loch Ness monster.

Prof. Gemmell says while the full details will be released at a later stage one of the theories 'might' be correct.

Two main theories about the monster are it is a long-necked plesiosaur that somehow survived the period when dinosaurs became extinct, or it is a sturgeon or giant catfish.

Loch Ness Monster Games Online

Prof Gemmell said he hoped to announce the full findings of the study in Scotland next month - but would not confirm which hypothesis might be right.

He said: 'Is there anything deeply mysterious? Hmm. It depends what you believe. Is there anything startling? There are a few things that are a bit surprising.

'What we'll have achieved is what we set out to do, which is document the biodiversity of Loch Ness in June 2018 in some level of detail.

'We've tested each one of the main monster hypotheses and three of them we can probably say aren't right and one of them might be.'

It was hoped the study's findings would be published earlier this year, but a series of failed attempts to film a television documentary delayed the process.

Negotiations with a series of production companies ended without a deal.

Loch Ness Monster Toy

Hundreds of thousands of visitors flock to Loch Ness every year to try and catch a glimpse of the mythical monster.

Nessie is worth millions of pounds to the Scottish economy - and tourist bosses previously said they are 'eagerly anticipating' the results.

Loch Ness Facts For Kids

Announcing the study last year, Professor Gemmell said: 'Scotland is dear to my heart because my mother and her family are Scottish, I’m delighted to be here to undertake our environmental DNA investigation of Loch Ness.

'It’s a place of extraordinary natural beauty.

'We’re delighted with the amount of interest the project has generated in the science and, monster or not, we are going to understand Loch Ness, and the life in it, in a new way.'