A YOUNG girl is said to have taken the best pictures of the Loch Ness Monster “for years” while she was holidaying with her parents.
Charlotte Robinson, 12, from Leeds was staying at the Loch Ness Highland Lodges at Invermoriston with her parents when she spotted the elusive beast just 50ft away on the first day of her holiday.
Charlotte says the famous monster popped its head out of the water for about a minute before resurfacing ten feet further away around seven minutes later.
The little girl was with her mum Kat, 41, a business intelligence data analyst, and dad Dave, 52, a factory worker.
Nessie made her appearance last Friday, August 17 and Charlotte managed to capture the moment on her Apple phone.
Charlotte told the Daily Record: “There was something in the water about 50 feet from the shore. I took a photo. It had a neck and head was in the shape of a hook.
“I just took what I saw. It was black – I just don’t know how far it was out of the water. I’m not good at judging distances.
“But after about a minute it disappeared and then came back up again in a different place. It was up for less than a minute the second time.
“I kinda believed in Nessie, but I wanted to see the proof. I always imagined her as having a long neck and flippers.
“I have seen something but I’m not sure what.”
Mum Kat said: “I couldn’t believe it. Something’s there. With all the sightings over the years there must be something in the loch.”
Nessie expert Steve Feltham, 55, who has been searching for Nessie for 27 years said he was “totally excited” by the photo and thought it was the best one in years.
So far this year there have been four official sightings of the monster.
Earlier this month an unnamed tourist claimed to have filmed the monster poking out of the water of the loch.
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In May, a schoolgirl and her gran claimed to have caught The Loch Ness Monster on camera while going for a paddle in the iconic lake.
Eight-year-old Laria Annand began recording after her gran Marie noticed a mysterious ripple on the water.
Last year there were 11 accepted sightings, the highest number this century.
The mystery surrounding the monster brings a huge tourist boost to the area, estimated to be worth £30million a year.