A record-breaking Loch Ness Monster hunter who has been searching for Nessie for over three decades has vowed that he will remain on the shores of the famous loch until he proves that its famous resident is real.
Steve Feltham, 59, moved to the banks of Loch Ness in June 1991, and has dedicated over half his life to the search for the truth about the legendary monster. He has previously been recognised by Guinness World Records for the longest continuous monster-hunting vigil of the loch.
He explained: "I hold the world record for hunting Nessie. I've kept watch since June 19, 1991, so 31 years. I'm going to stay here until I get the proof, that's my life's work. I need to prove to myself it's real. This is something I need to get closure on."
A tourist attraction in his own right, fans of the mystery often travel up to the loch as much to speak with Steve, in his former mobile library home at Dores, as they do to try and spot the monster.
"A popular misconception is that my life here is in any way similar to that of a hermit, this could not be further from the truth. I meet and speak to hundreds of people every day, especially in the summer months."
He met his partner Hilary while she was on a trip from her home in Inverness around 16 years ago, but as of yet has failed to convince her of Nessie's existence, the Mirror reports.
The knowledgeable expert first fell in love with the idea of the monster after first visiting the area at the age of seven on a family holiday. At 28, he decided to pack in his job and leave his home and girlfriend in Dorset to embark on his sight-seeing mission.
He has now spent well over 11,000 days watching out for the Loch Ness Monster - and vows to stay there until he solves the mystery.
He admits he's only ever seen one clear sign, in 1992, but is intent on unearthing further proof.
"Something shot through the water like a torpedo. All I could see was a spray of water. I just froze and it was gone," he explained.
The adventurer makes money by creating models of the Loch Ness Monster and selling them to tourists.
Speaking to the Daily Record in 2020, he said: “I never came here to be a cottage industry. I came here to solve a mystery and so far I’ve given up more than 10,400 of my days to do so and I’m prepared to spend the same time again.
"I don’t regret a day of it. I have lived my life trying to solve one of the world’s greatest mysteries and it’s been the realisation of a dream."
In 2019, Steve was the star of a film about him by a director from Oscar-winner Ridley Scott’s company. Others who have called on him over the years include Eric Idle, Robin Williams, the Chinese State Circus and Billy Connolly, who asked him to be a guide for some of his A-list friends for a day.
One theory about the monster, that it could be a modern-day descendant of the dinosaur plesiosaur, has been given a boost after researchers discovered a vital clue in the Sahara Desert.
According to the academics, it's now feasible that the creatures, which were thought to only exist in saltwater locations, could have existed in fresh water.
The University of Bath found fossils of small plesiosaurs in a 100 million-year-old river system in the famous Moroccan desert, suggesting that these creatures may have lived and fed in fresh water, alongside frogs, crocodiles, turtles, fish, and the huge aquatic dinosaur spinosaurus.
In 2020, startling images of a large creature inhabiting the depths of Loch Ness were captured on sonar off Invermoriston by skipper Ronald Mackenzie aboard his Spirit of Loch Ness tourist boat.
They were said to be the "most compelling" evidence of the existence of a Loch Ness Monster, leaving experts astounded by the clarity of the image of an object, estimated then to be 32 feet long, hovering 62 feet above the bottom and over 500 feet down.
Steve was as excited about the findings as anyone, adding: "The sonar image - together with the previous ones - are now the best evidence of something big and deep down in the loch.
"That tourist boat has been regularly picking up contacts in that area for the last two years. So some large creature has moved into that territory.
This is another step towards finding out what Nessie is. I'm still inclined to think she is a large fish of some sort, my best guess is a Wels catfish."
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