NESSIE ON TOUR
Is this the moment the Loch Ness Monster’s eastern European cousin was caught on camera in Albania?
The 'creature' was filmed in the Albanian section of the Great Prespa Lake, which is shared with Greece and Macedonia
LOCALS in Albania claim to have captured an eastern European version of the Loch Ness Monster on camera.
The “creature” was filmed in the Albanian section of the Great Prespa Lake, which the country shares with Greece and Macedonia.
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The footage, which claims to show the head and neck of a large creature emerging from the water, is proving popular with viewers online.
The silhouette resembling the infamous “surgeon's photograph” hoax in Loch Ness can be seen moving up and down before disappearing beneath the water.
And believers claim it matches up with another clip from five years ago said to show the “beast” in the Greek section of the lake, near the village of Nivica.
The new video sparked a probe by a party of journalists who were led on a tour of the lakeside by retired geography professor Sima Jonoski.
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But they failed to see any further sign of the “monster” in the area where it was spotted, near the Albanian tourist village of Pretor.
Many local residents believe in the legend of the monster of the lake – but others are certain that it is just a large catfish.
Mr Jonoski, a sceptic who became the first man to swim across the lake back in 1970, said: "I remember when a ship sank in Albania, near Maligrad, a lot of children drowned in Prespa Lake.
"Then I found out that the divers who searched for them saw great catfish.
"They were so scared that they stopped the search. I think that it was one of those catfish that the Greek fishermen saw."
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But he added: "Sometimes things happen in Prespa Lake that don't happen in other lakes.
"When I was a teacher in 1976 I saw a large pillar of water rising near the border with Greece, shaped like a mushroom. It came down only after 10 to 15 minutes."
The Great Prespa Lake, and the nearby Small Prespa Lake, are the highest tectonic lakes in the Balkans, at an altitude of 2,798 ft.
Aside from the fabled Nessie, there are legends of monsters living in a number of lakes around the world, including Morag, in Loch Morar, Scotland; Lagarfljot Worm, in Lagarfljot, Iceland; Ogopogo, in Canada's Okanagan Lake; and Lariosauro, in Lake Como, Italy.
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