What Happens If Someone Actually Finds The Loch Ness Monster?

Nobody turns down a trip to Loch Ness, a chance to visit the supposed home of the world’s favorite cryptid (sorry, Bigfoot, I will not be taking questions). Do I believe in Nessie? No. Did the trip raise more questions than I was anticipating? Yes. Because, as a journalist preparing for an investigation, I do have to consider all angles, including… what if we actually found it? 

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In researching for the trip, I came across an article by the BBC referencing the Nessie Contingency Plan, the surprisingly official-sounding apparent Scottish government plan, should the improbable happen. NatureScot, the Scottish nature agency, reportedly had guidelines in place that offered Nessie the same protections as other protected Scottish wildlife: it cannot be killed, captured, or removed from its habitat. I was impressed. It’s not a bad thing to hedge your bets, even if it is a bit of a joke, because immediate protection of extremely endangered “lost” species upon rediscovery can be long and arduous and is not guaranteed, as Dr Barney Long, Senior Director of Conservation Strategies at Re:wild, told me later.      

"The Nessie Contingency Plan was produced back in 2001, at a time when there was a lot of Nessie-hunting activity on the loch. We were regularly being asked by the media and others what we would do if or when she, or he, was found,” a NatureScot spokesperson told the BBC.

"The code of practice, which was partly serious and partly for a bit of fun, was drawn up to offer protection not just to the elusive monster, but to any new species found in the loch."

Now, as it turns out, NatureScot does not in fact have guidelines in place to protect Nessie should it be found, at least not in 2025. I was disappointed, sure, when they told me, but it will be nothing compared to how the locals will feel when they find out, as we were proudly assured time and again during our visit that it did. 

When I asked them about it, however, they insisted that it had just been “a bit of fun at the time in response to media queries,” which both corroborates what the spokesperson told the BBC recently, and misses the point the agency was trying to make when it spoke to the BBC back in 2018. At the time, Nick Halfhide of Scottish Natural Heritage, as NatureScot was known then, explained the code of practice was drawn up to help protect any new species – including a “monster” – found in the loch. He noted that lessons learnt while putting together the "partly serious, partly fun" code in 2001 were still relevant years later when new species were being found all over Scotland. Which means it would still be relevant today. 

I'm not saying in the modern day cryptids are credible, but everything was cryptic until it was discovered.

Dr Barney Long

Just because Nessie is a potentially mythical creature whose existence is based solely on personal anecdotes and blurry photos doesn’t mean it’s not a bad plan to have some protections in place juuuust in case, so we don’t wipe it off the planet immediately should scientific evidence prove its existence real. 

After all, as Long pointed out during our chat, 100 years ago, the only things we had to go on to suspect some species were real were local anecdotes and reported sightings – until “credible” proof of existence showed up.

“I mean, the okapi was a cryptid that no one believed in until someone found it,” he told IFLScience. “I'm not saying in the modern day cryptids are credible, but everything was cryptic until it was discovered.” 

What makes a species “lost”? 

Long heads up conservation strategies at Re:wild, an independent non-profit organization founded by Leonardo DiCaprio, among others. Dedicated to global conservation efforts, it partners with everyone from governments and global leaders to Indigenous peoples and local communities in its mission to protect and restore the wild, which includes searching for lost species. Since 2017, incredibly, 15 have been found.

I asked Long what makes a species “lost” as opposed to extinct – or even a cryptid, which is defined as a creature whose existence is disputed or unsubstantiated by science – and as it turns out, he wrote the book, or at least the paper, on just that. 

“It's species that have not been seen for over 10 years in the wild or in the trade and are not in captivity,” he explained. “We use the IUCN Red List, and if something has been declared extinct or presumed extinct, we do not include it on the list because we don't want to conflict with the standard threat categorization that the world's experts have put together.” 

Long explains there are finer definitions, including “missing” species, those which have not been seen in five years, and even “shadow” species – species that are rarely actually seen by scientists (because they live in the deep sea, for example) but have no known threats.

The definition is not perfect, Long notes, but it is gaining acceptance within the conservation community.

“Obviously, there's a clear difference between cryptids and ‘lost’ because lost is a known species, whereas ‘cryptid’ is the species is not yet known,” he pointed out. 

So, Re:wild is not in the business of searching for unsubstantiated creatures, but what kind of credible proof do they need to put time and resources into searching for a species not seen in at least a decade without going on a wild goose chase?

How to find a lost species 

First, Long explained, they have to select and prioritize their searches. Working with the IUCN Species Survival Commission, the list of lost species is now over 4,000, so they draw up a “most wanted” list. For this, they try and include a wide variety of marine and terrestrial animals, plants, and invertebrates from around the world, species that will also, frankly, capture the public’s attention. 

It usually starts with reported sightings. Ideally, that needs to be verified, and it needs to be in the wild. However, initial sightings might occur in wet markets or other similar locations. The goal then is to follow the trail of where the species was caught and try to confirm its presence in the wild. Expeditions are then launched to gather evidence like videos, photos, or DNA.

“Sometimes we send out an expedition and they find it straight away, which is great, we know it's there. Then, the discussion goes to, well, how many are there? What's its distribution? What are the threats? What does it need to be properly conserved and recovered?” Long said.

Other species they can spend years looking for before they make the call. “The one we've been looking for the longest is Miss Waldron’s red colobus in Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana. This would be the first primate extinction in over 500 years, if we were to confirm it's extinct.”

Despite field, eDNA, and thermal imaging surveys with drone cameras, and interviews with locals, it’s not looking good for the red colobus subspecies, though Long says there are still two final sites to explore. However, the IUCN will make the final call. 

What happens after rediscovery?

“To say it's not lost, it just requires one confirmed field record,” Long said. “It then goes into: this is a data-deficient species that needs a lot more data and conservation action. It goes from a lost species search to a conservation project immediately.”

The Vietnamese silver-backed chevrotain, a mouse-deer lost for 30 years and rediscovered in 2019, is an excellent example of a rediscovered species leading to a comprehensive conservation program, including anti-poaching operations and long-term action plans. From conducting interviews with locals to obtaining camera trap images, multiple surveys across Vietnam found four populations. “Actually, just yesterday, we found a new population,” Long shared. 

Now, six years after the rediscovery, they’ve just supported the launch of the first breeding program for it with local partners and global experts. 

However, how quickly a conservation program can get off the ground depends on many factors, from the political will of the nation the species is found in to protect its habitat or put protection laws in place to funding.  

So what about Nessie?

As Scotland’s national animal is the unicorn, and they are supremely proud of their world-famous cryptid, it’s unlikely there would be much resistance against developing a full conservation program for it, should irrefutable proof of its existence turn up.

I’m inclined to keep it a secret, whatever it was… Maybe I have discovered it.

Steve Glew

Curiously, however, when we asked people around Loch Ness what they would do if they found it, other than taking a zillion photographs, most people responded they’d keep quiet so it could live in peace. 

“I don’t think I’d let on that I’d discovered it,” Steve Glew, Skipper of the Loch Ness Centre’s Deepscan research vessel and tour boat, told IFLScience. Steve claims to have had his own sighting of the “monster” in 2019. “I’m inclined to keep it a secret, whatever it was,” he said. “Maybe I have discovered it.” 

Since Nessie fever is alive and well in 2025, with at least three sightings reported on the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register so far this year, and two more just the week before we arrived, perhaps we don’t need confirmation. Perhaps, instead, harnessing that passion for cryptids and directing it towards supporting conservation efforts for known lost species – taking part in citizen science, for example – is a more worthy goal than trying to prove the existence of a monster.

So, did we find Nessie? Well, we’re inclined to agree with Steve; we wouldn’t tell you if we did, so what do you think?

This article first appeared in Issue 40, November 2025, of our digital magazine CURIOUS. Subscribe and never miss an issue.