A man on the shores of Scotland's Dores Beach said he saw the elusive Loch Ness monster emerging from the depths of the loch, the first potential Nessie sighting reported to The Loch Ness Centre in 2025, the organization says.

Winter often brings bad weather and the loch's surface can be choppy and shrouded in mist, leading to fewer reported sightings, Aimee Todd, the center's marketing manager, told USA TODAY on Thursday. But on Jan. 29, when the latest purported photo of the mythical creature was taken, the waters were calm and the conditions ideal for spotting unusual activity, according to Todd.

Todd said she was thrilled to learn of the latest sighting.

"I just thought it was brilliant because it really shows like the wave," Todd said. "And it looks like there is like some kind of dark mass under the water pushing up that wave."

Todd said the center has reached out to experts including Alan Mackenna of Loch Ness Exploration to verify that image is not a case of mistaken identity. She said often seals, birds or even boat wakes can be mistaken for Nessie and she is waiting to get more information from the man who took the photo on his cellphone and has not been publicly identified.

The Loch Ness Centre has worked with Mackenna's organization and the University of Aberdeen to use cutting-edge technology to probe the depths of the loch and has invited hundreds of people around the world to participate in surface watching events, Todd said. During a massive search in 2023, Mackenna's team used drones and other technology to surveil the lake.