This is the 'spectacular' moment a baby Nessie devours its prey, revealing its long neck and hump above the water, a monster hunter claims.
Eoin O'Faodhagain said he was 'stunned' to see the 'distinct' shape surfacing just yards from a Loch Ness hotel while watching the water via webcam.
He said: 'As I was watching, I noticed a large disturbance in the tranquil waters of Loch Ness, less than 100 feet from the Clansman Hotel pier.
'A creature broke the surface and rose up a few feet out of the water, then quickly submerged into the dark depths of Loch Ness.
'Luckily I was already recording. It all happened so fast, but I got it recorded.'
In Eoin's footage, the creature briefly surfaces, and for a moment resembles the Nessie of popular imagination, with a long neck and a hump behind.
Mr O'Faodhagain has no doubt that that's exactly what it was.
'I immediately thought it was Nessie because it was too large to be anything else,' he said.
This is the 'spectacular' moment a baby Nessie devours its prey, revealing its long neck and hump above the water, a monster hunter claims
Eoin O'Faodhagain said he was 'stunned' to see the 'distinct' shape surfacing just yards from a Loch Ness hotel while watching the water via webcam
'Certainly it has no resemblance to an otter or a seal, and I never saw a fish with a neck and a bumpy back.
'I was stunned, overjoyed that at last I might have a clear image of the Loch Ness Monster.
'Looking at the screenshot afterwards, it fit the uncanny classic description of Nessie, given by many eyewitnesses over the years.'
Eoin, 60, believes the Nessie in question is a 'juvenile'.
And he thinks it was most likely feeding, noting movement nearby that could be from a fish.
He said: 'It is a juvenile Nessie, playing with its prey – the fish – before it devours it.
'If what I noted is correct, then it is the first time on live camera that we see Nessie hunting its fish prey.'
The video was captured on May 7 near the northern end of the loch, using a webcam at the Clansman Hotel maintained by Visit Inverness Loch Ness (VILN).
Eoin, 60, believes the Nessie in question is a 'juvenile'. And he thinks it was most likely feeding, noting movement nearby that could be from a fish
The video was captured on May 7 near the northern end of the loch, using a webcam at the Clansman Hotel maintained by Visit Inverness Loch Ness (VILN)
Mr O'Faodhagain often logs on to watch the water from his home in County Donegal, Ireland.
Over the years, he's racked up multiple entries in the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register.
But even for him, this was a surprising encounter.
He said: 'This sighting is unique.
'The whole episode startled me – watching this short, spectacular image unfolding in front of my eyes.'
The sighting comes as Nessie hunters prepare to descend on the Highlands for a mass monster hunt.
Running from May 22 to May 25, the event has been dubbed The Quest, and is now entering its third year.
The VILN webcams can be watched live online at visitinvernesslochness.com
What IS the Loch Ness Monster?
Rumours of a strange creature living in the waters of Loch Ness have abounded over the decades, yet scant evidence has been found to back up these claims.
One of the first sightings, believed to have fuelled modern Nessie fever, came in May 2, 1933.
On this date the Inverness Courier carried a story about a local couple who claim to have seen 'an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface'.
Another famous claimed sighting is a photograph taken in 1934 by Colonel Robert Kenneth Wilson.
It was later exposed as a hoax by one of the participants, Chris Spurling, who, on his deathbed, revealed that the pictures were staged.
Other sightings James Gray's picture from 2001 when he and friend Peter Levings were out fishing on the Loch, while namesake Hugh Gray's blurred photo of what appears to be a large sea creature was published in the Daily Express in 1933.
Robert Kenneth Wilson, a London physician, captured arguably the most famous image of the Loch Ness Monster. The surgeon’s photograph was published in the Daily Mail on April 21, 1934 - however it was later proven to be a fake
The first reported sighting of the monster is said to have been made in AD565 by the Irish missionary St Columba when he came across a giant beast in the River Ness.
But no one has ever come up with a satisfactory explanation for the sightings - although in 2019, 'Nessie expert' Steve Feltham, who has spent 24 years watching the Loch, said he thought it was actually a giant Wels Catfish, native to waters near the Baltic and Caspian seas in Europe.
An online register lists more than 1,000 total Nessie sightings, created by Mr Campbell, the man behind the Official Loch Ness Monster Fan Club and is available at www.lochnesssightings.com.
So what could explain these mysterious sightings?
Many Nessie witnesses have mentioned large, crocodile-like scutes sitting atop the spine of the creature, leading some to believe an escaped amphibian may be to blame.
Native fish sturgeons can also weigh several hundred pounds and have ridged backs, which make them look almost reptilian.
Some believe Nessie is a long-necked plesiosaur - like an elasmosaur - that survived somehow when all the other dinosaurs were wiped out.
Others say the sightings are down to Scottish pines dying and flopping into the loch, before quickly becoming water-logged and sinking.
While submerged, botanical chemicals start trapping tiny bubbles of air.
Eventually, enough of these are gathered to propel the log upward as deep pressures begin altering its shape, giving the appearance of an animal coming up for air.
