A Loch Ness Monster hunter has dedicated his life to searching for the mythical creature every day for 35 years. Steve Feltham, 63, moved to the legendary loch in 1991 seeking adventure and to find the monster. He gave up his job installing security alarms in Dorset and now lives in a former mobile library van, which he calls the Loch Ness Monster HQ.
Based on Dores Beach beside the famous Scottish lake, Steve met his wife there and has searched for the monster daily for over three decades. He claims he saw Nessie once during his first year but has not seen it since.
Describing his only sighting, he told The Sun: 'In year one of being out here full-time, I was parked on the end of the canal, and waves were coming onto the loch. Something caught my attention, shooting through the water, directly against those waves, making a splash as it hit each oncoming wave, like a torpedo going through the water. All I could see was a white streak of something going very fast through the water – almost like a jet ski, but without the jet ski.' He regretted not photographing it but thought another opportunity would come.
Now 63, Feltham moved to Loch Ness in his mid-twenties after being fascinated with the monster since age seven. He spends much of his time disproving deliberate hoaxes. 'Around 90% of the time I can figure out what has caused someone's sighting – a genuine mistake or find a mundane explanation,' he said. 'I occasionally see things that defy explanation to me – that absolutely stop me in my tracks and that I can't explain. But there's also things I see where people are deliberately trying to hoax. With AI, any teenager in his bedroom who wants to be a budding fake photograph maker can experiment with an app.'
He met his wife, Hilary, 20 years ago near the loch, and they married during lockdown. They live separately to allow Steve to focus on his research, but Hilary lives in Inverness, so they see each other regularly. Steve also talks to visitors, watches the loch, and takes boat trips to find evidence. He makes money by crafting and selling handmade clay Nessie sculptures for £10 to £20.
This follows the first new Nessie sightings in months, reigniting the mystery. American tourist Tony Inhorn reported seeing a dark-greenish grey body rising two feet out of the water near the Caledonian Canal entrance on March 1.
