Two British kayakers recently had the surprise of their life while paddling on Lake Windermere near the village of Bowness. The duo were briefly shadowed by a legendary sea monster, and even managed photograph it with their mobile phone, before it disappeared back under the water. The photo is described as the best image ever captured of the beast, but as is typical with these kinds of sightings, it isn't all that conclusive either.

Tom Pickles and Sarah Harrington were taking part in a team building exercise with their company when the encounter occured. That had paddled about 300 yards out on to the lake, when suddenly something broke the surface next to them. The two co-workers spootted several humps cruising across the surface of the water, covered with skin that appeared to be much like that of a seal. The creature was long, about the length of three cars, and a massive shadow was spotted just beneath the surface of the water. The sighting lasted just 20 seconds, but that was long enough for the photo to be snapped.

Known as "Bownessie," this lake monster isn't quite as famous as its Scottish cousin the Loch Ness Monster. None the less, there have been sightings of the beast dating back to the 1950's, although this is by far the best photo to date. Still, as you can tell from the image above, it is hardly a great photo, and it is difficult to tell exactly what we're looking at. Expert analysis of the image says that it appears to be a genuine photo, although the file size on the camera phone is too small to tell if it has been digitally manipulated.

So? What do you think is in the image? A sea monster? A log? Something else?

[Photo credit: Tom Pickles]

Filed under: Arts and Culture, Paddling, Photos, Europe, United Kingdom, News