Is Nessie extinct? There have been no new sightings of the famous Loch Ness Monster for several months.

There have been no new sightings of the legendary Loch Ness Monster for over a decade, raising concerns about its continued existence. Gary Campbell, a veteran Nessie researcher, notes that this, the first time in nearly 90 years, could indicate the creature's extinction. Although stories about Nessie date back as far as 1,500 years, and its presence in the loch has been documented numerous times, the lack of any reported sightings raises questions about the future of this mysterious legend.

A veteran Loch Ness Monster observer believes the creature hasn't been seen in over a year, and according to recent reports, it may already be dead. This is the first time in nearly 90 years that such a long gap in sightings has occurred.

According to the BBC, Gary Campbell, who lives in Inverness, UK, has been collecting reports of encounters with the Loch Ness Monster for the past 17 years and has compiled a list of sightings and records that date back some 1,500 years.

"It's very worrying, and we don't know where this animal has gone," Campbell told BBC News. "Sightings have been declining since the turn of the century, but this is the first time in almost 90 years that Nessie has been seen at all." (The Inverness Courier reports that three reports from 2013 were likely classified as false.)

This isn't the first time Nessie hasn't made an appearance; in fact, the last reports of close encounters with the creature date back almost a century. The Loch Ness Creature first came to public attention in 1933 after a local newspaper article described, not a huge head or hump, but a splashing sound in the water that appeared to be caused by "two ducks fighting." The famous photograph showing Nessie's head and neck captured the world's attention, but decades later it was proven to be a fake.

Some claim that the first account of Nessie dates back to 565 AD, when Saint Columba saved a man by scaring away a large beast that had fled into the River Ness, which flows into the loch. However, this is just one of many Catholic legends about righteous saints chasing Satan in the form of snakes and dragons.

Many myths lurk among the cold Scottish hills, including legends of "water horses"—creatures associated with rivers and lochs that resemble normal horses, yet are simultaneously magical and deadly. Try to ride a water horse, and it will accept the rider, then gallop to the nearest lake or river, throw the rider off its back, and then devour its flesh—so goes one myth. While some of these legends and folktales may be based on accounts of encounters with the Ness Monster, Nessie, of course, is not a magical horse—rather, it is said to be a very real, living, breathing aquatic creature, resembling a long-necked dinosaur.Skeptics have suggested that no monster likely inhabits the loch. However, the lack of sightings poses a significant challenge for those who believe in its existence. The fact that there have been no reports of Nessie in the past 18 months means that even if the creature did exist, it is no longer there.

Although people often refer to Nessie as a solitary animal (often female), if she exists, there must be more in the lake—at least dozens, if not hundreds. This narrows the equation and deepens the mystery, because with so many individuals supposedly living in the lake, they should be seen much more frequently. It defies logic to believe a group of unknown creatures exists in a lake—a lake that's home to many people and visited by tens of thousands of tourists searching for the monster—especially when none of them surface. Think of it this way: if a giraffe, rhino, or horse were never seen in a single year, then the most logical—and tragic—explanation would be that they were extinct. Extinction is the only reason large animals simply disappear like this.

This is especially true for Nessie's creatures, whose range is ultimately limited to a lake measuring just over 32 km long by 1.6 km wide. Unlike birds (which can migrate hundreds or thousands of kilometers) or land animals (which can wander for several hundred kilometers), Nessie is assumed to be immobile in the lake. There are no underwater passages leading to the ocean or anywhere else. In short, if Nessie is not seen in the lake, there is no possibility of it migrating elsewhere.

But don't worry, monster lovers and the Inverness Tourism Commission: If history is any indicator, more Nessie sightings will eventually appear, whether they exist or not. There are enough things floating in the lake that could be mistaken for the monster, including large fish, strange waves, and even the occasional fake, to keep the sightings going and the tourists coming in for more.