For centuries, the dark, still waters of Loch Ness have been home to one of the world’s most enduring legends: a creature said to dwell beneath the surface, massive and mysterious, rarely seen but never forgotten.

Known as Nessie, this elusive cryptid has stirred global curiosity since the early 20th century, though accounts of something strange in the loch stretch back to ancient times. From ancient Pictish carvings and Saint Columba’s fabled encounter in the 6th century, to the infamous 1934 “Surgeon’s Photograph,” the mystery has only deepened.