Though tales of a sea serpent had been around Scotland for hundreds of years, the monster sightings at Loch Ness reached a peak in 1933, when a newly constructed road brought visitors closer than ever to the large lake. The Daily Mail decided to capitalize on these rumors by hiring a famous animal hunter, Marmaduke Wetherell, to try to find the monster. He reported finding tracks belonging to the monster, but it was later revealed to be a hoax.

It was a British doctor, Robert Kenneth Wilson, who took the photograph published in the newspaper in 1934. The image is still widely seen today, and is one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential Photographs. In the mid 1990s, the photo was revealed to be a hoax! "Nessie" was really a toy submarine with a head and neck affixed to the top.

You can visit the Loch Ness Center and Exhibition and Nessieland in Inverness, Scotland to learn more about the myth of Nessie the Loch Ness Monster. NBC's The Today Show went there in 2017 to get down to the bottom of the legend. There are many books that explore the myth of the Loch Ness Monster, and I've pulled together a collection on Epic for you to explore. I recommend the Dick King Smith book The Water Horse, which was also turned into a movie.

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