A potential sighting of the Loch Ness monster has resulted in the "most exciting" photographs in decades of the fabled creature according to monster hunters.
Chie Kelly, 51, captured images of an unidentified large creature on the surface of the loch in August five years ago.
She did not initially release the images due to a fear of public ridicule but was inspired to do so after the biggest search for 'Nessie' in over half a century took place last month.
Kelly and her family were eating lunch at an inn on the banks of the Scottish loch when she started to take pictures.
"I was just taking pictures with my Canon camera of Scott and our daughter Alisa, who was then five, when about 200 metres from the shore, moving right to left at a steady speed was this creature," she told British newspaper The Telegraph.
"It was spinning and rolling at times. We never saw a head or neck. After a couple of minutes, it just disappeared and we never saw it again."
The images were quickly deemed the "most exciting" photographs taken of the legendary creature in decades by the Loch Ness monster hunting community.
"They are exactly the type of pictures I have been wanting to take for three decades. It is rare to see something so clear on the surface," Steve Feltham told The Telegraph.
He has dedicated over 30 years to searching for the Loch Ness monster since quitting his job and selling his house in 1991.
"They warrant further investigation. It is not driftwood — it is a moving creature and totally unexplained."
However, paranormal investigator Hayley Stevens doubts that the photograph is of the famous cryptid and that the "time of year and location" points to it being a large sturgeon.
"The photos were taken in August 2018 and sturgeon migrate into fresh water in late summer and early autumn to mate, before heading back out to coastal waters," writes Stevens on her blog Hayley is a Ghost.
"Sturgeon can grow very large – the Atlantic and European sturgeon, which are native to the UK, can grow up to 5 meters in length."
Reports of the Loch Ness monster date back to ancient times, with an Irish missionary allegedly rescuing a swimmer from a creature in the loch in the 7th century.
In 1933, a road adjacent to the loch was completed, leading to a proliferation in sightings of the monster.
Numerous searches have taken place over the years, with a DNA survey in 2018 finding no sign of a plesiosaur or other large animal in the lake.
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