Loch Ness Monster fans have gone crazy for a new X-rated theory as to what the mythical beast could be.
Marine biologist Michael Sweet suggested it could be an excited male whale swimming near the surface which sparked the legend.
Hundreds of people have claimed to see the creature over the years, with interest in Nessie booming in the 1930s with the publication of the infamous Surgeon’s Photo.
The monster remains a myth, attracting visitors every year from around the world to search of the beast.
Wading into the discussion, award-winning researcher and lecturer Mr Sweet claimed the long neck of sea monsters reported by early explorers could have been the protruding penis of a male whale looking to mate.
Writing alongside a picture of the monster, he said: “Back in [the] day, travellers/explorers would draw what they saw.
“This is where many sea monster stories come from ie. tentacled and alienesque appendages emerging from the water - giving belief to something more sinister lurking beneath....however, in many cases it was just whale d***s.
“Whales often mate in groups so while one male is busy with the female the other male just pops his d*** out of the water while swimming around waiting his turn. Everyone’s gotta have a bit of fun, right?
“One female whale is typically paired with a primary escort (male) and a group of males will try to fight for their right to overthrow the escort and earn mating rights.
“A competition pod can have just a handful of whales or a larger group of 12-15.”
Sightings of the monster have been made since the sixth century when Irish monk Saint Columbia wrote about an encounter when he was at the water’s edge of River Ness.
Interest in the mythical beast skyrocketed in the 1930s with a number of reported claims, including the infamous picture known as Surgeon’s Photograph.
Showing the creature’s head and neck, it was later revealed as a hoax.
Mr Sweet's claims were met with hilarity by some people, although one Nessie expert slammed him as an "ignorant fool."
Author Tony Harmsworth said: "The man’s ignorance of the environment at Loch Ness is astounding. Any large air-breather would have been easily identified. There is no whale in Loch Ness.
"His ignorance of the mystery is equally astounding. He is comparing the whales’ penises with a photograph which was discredited thirty years ago as a hoax.
"So, my expert opinion is he is an ignorant fool!”
Loch Ness expert Adrian Shine, from the Loch Ness Project, also added: "There are no whales in Loch Ness."
Mr Sweet added: "I never said that Nessie was a whale - [I] indicated that many ‘monsters’ where highly likely to be whale penises and this will explain a number of sea farers sightings back in the day. Nessie was just used as an example."
One reader joked: "My Dad saw whales doing this when he was in the Navy. He did say it made him feel somewhat inadequate…"
Another said: "From now on, I am going to treat anything we don't understand as X-rated."
So far this year there have been two reported sightings, the latest on April 4 when Tom Ingram, a visitor from Portsmouth, on the Spirit of Loch Ness cruise reported contact on its sonar.
The first was in March when documentary maker Jamie Huntley said he saw a “big boulder or something”.
He said: “A large object/creature in the loch caught my eye.
“At first I thought was a big boulder or something. I said to my friend driving “what's that, it's huge?" I could see movement and the water breaking against it.
“The object/creature was reflecting the water so looked wet, almost like a whale skin crossed with a fish skin. it was dark in colour, darker than the water surrounding it, there were dark grey's, black, browns in colour, it almost looked like how a whale hump might look breaking the surface minus the fin.
“There was a definite movement but I didn't see too much of the movement before trees obscured it.”
Six official sightings were made in 2021, with more than 1,000 since records began.
