Thanks to a nine-year-old boy's quest to spot Nessie, 2017 now stands as the best year for sightings of the creature this century.
The fortuitous encounter occurred when young Sam Knight was vacationing at Loch Ness with his family and asked if they could go looking for the famous 'monster' said to lurk there.
According to the boy's mother, he had become obsessed with the legendary beast leading up to their visit and, when they took a cruise on Loch Ness, adorably brought along some rope to capture the creature.
While Sam and his family did not ensnare Nessie during their 'monster hunt,' one of the photographs they took that day very well may have.
Looking over the images when they returned home, the Knights were astounded to see a dark anomaly on the water that they could not explain and did not notice during the cruise.
The image was subsequently submitted to the rather fastidious Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register where, after some debate, it was deemed worthy of acceptance.
Being the eighth Nessie sighting accepted by the group this year, the Knight family's photo set a record, of sorts, as 2017 now has more reports than any year this century.
While the number may be a far cry from the 17 sightings recorded in 1996, it's a welcome sign after what had started out as a pretty worrisome year for Nessie with rumors of its demise making headlines.
Clearly the creature, such as it is, remains alive and well both at Loch Ness and in the minds of imaginative youngsters around the world.
Source: Express