The Loch Ness monster lives in a giant carpenter's level. 
 
 Just as the bubble in a carpenter's level moves back and forth depending on the surface it rests upon, Scotland's Loch Ness tilts back and forth according to the movement of the ground beneath it caused by the tides on the nearby North Sea. The motion is so subtle GPS couldn't even track it. 
 
 When the tide comes in on the North Sea, 13 kilometers (8 miles) to the east of Loch Ness, the increased pressure on the seafloor deforms the Earth, a process called ocean tidal loading. And while the moon controls the tides of the North Sea, and affects the loch as well, the wobbly movement of the land from the pressure of the changing tides is what really determines the loch's levels. The water in the loch acts like a bowl of water on a wobbly table, sloshing according to the movement of the land it rests upon. 
 
 The depth of the loch changed by 1.5 millimeters (0.06 inches) at its different ends depending on whether the North Sea tide was in or not, according to researchers at the National Oceanography Center in the UK and the University of Porto, Portugal. 
 
 BLOG: Giant Lost Island Found on Atlantic Seafloor 
 
 The researchers used pressure sensors distributed throughout Loch Ness to measure depth changes to the incredible accuracy of 0.1 mm (0.004 in) over the 35 km (22 mi) length. 
 
 "Our tilt accuracy of better than 10−8, measured over 35 km, demonstrates Loch Ness as one the world's longest and most accurate tiltmeters," the researchers said in the abstract of their paper published in the Journal of Geophysical Research. 
 
 BLOG: Deep Icelandic Current Confirmed 
 
 These measurements may be a first for a European lake with land shifting tides due to ocean tidal loading. 
 
 IMAGES: 
 
 Loch Ness with Urquhart Castle in the foreground. (Sam Fentress, Wikimedia Commons) ||||| Have Apple's maps found the Loch Ness Monster? Satellite image reveals mysterious shape lurking in the Scottish Highlands 
 
 Satellite in the atmosphere was accessed using Apple's satellite map app 
 
 Shows a creature swimming below the surface of the world famous loch 
 
 Location just south of Dores - only be viewed on some iPads and iPhones 
 
 Creature in the water is about 50ft in length - half the size of a blue whale 
 
 
 
 So large that it can be seen from space, it is enough to send shockwaves through even the most cynical Nessie sceptic. 
 
 This shadowy form measuring around 100ft long and seemingly with two giant flippers powering it through the waters of Loch Ness was photographed by a satellite. 
 
 For six months the image has been studied by experts at the Official Loch Ness Monster Fan Club, where excitement is mounting after various explanations for it were ruled out... leaving them to conclude it is ‘likely’ to be the elusive beast. 
 
 Scroll down for video 
 
 A satellite high in the atmosphere, accessed using Apple's satellite map app, may have provided proof that the legend lives on - with amazing images of a creature swimming below the surface of the world famous loch 
 
 This sonar image appearsto show a mystery object in the loch. A shadowy form, pictured, measuring around 100ft long (30 metres) with two giant flippers was photographed by a satellite and spotted on the Apple Maps app 
 
 Club president Gary Campbell, who keeps a register of sightings, said: ‘We’ve been looking at it for a long time trying to work out exactly what it is. 
 
 
 
 ‘It looks like a boat wake, but the boat is missing. You can see some boats moored at the shore, but there isn’t one here. We’ve shown it to boat experts and they don’t know what it is. 
 
 ‘Whatever this is, it is under the water and heading south, so unless there have been secret submarine trials going on in the loch, the size of the object would make it likely to be Nessie.’ 
 
 He said other ‘logical’ explanations – such as a floating log or a seal causing ripples – could not be used to account for the imposing shape either. 
 
 The photographs were captured by two different amateur Nessie hunters scanning different satellites transmitting images of the earth from space - Peter Thain from Northumberland and Andy Dixon County Durham 
 
 The image has ended a recent drought in ‘confirmed sightings’ of the creature. In February Mr Campbell announced that no one had come forward in the previous 18 months to say they had seen Nessie – the first time since 1925 this had happened. 
 
 The club was alerted to the new image by two people who noticed it at the end of last year on satellite pictures used by Apple for its smartphone maps. 
 
 One of the spotters, Andrew Dixon, 26, a charity worker for the Great North Air Ambulance, from Darlington, County Durham, said: ‘It was a total fluke that I found it. I was looking at satellite images of my town and then just thought I’d have a look at Loch Ness. 
 
 ‘The first thing that came into my head when I saw it was, “That’s the Loch Ness Monster”. It was the shape of it, I thought it had to be something more than a shadow. 
 
 State of the art sonar equipment, a yellow submarine, Hollywood actors and even a white witch have all tried to find the elusive Loch Ness Monster 
 
 Mr Dixon said: 'It was purely by accident that I came across the image. I was trawling through satellite transmissions of different parts of the country and I thought I would try Loch Ness' 
 
 The image was recorded by sonar equipment on board the flagship vessel of Inverness-based Jacobite Cruises as it sailed on Loch Ness, pictured 
 
 ‘It was exciting. I’ve never been to Loch Ness but I’m always interested in that sort of stuff.’ 
 
 Peter Thain, from Newbiggin by the Sea, Northumberland, also came across the same image through Apple’s satellite map app. Both he and Mr Dixon forwarded the image to the club. 
 
 Mr Campbell, 49, a chartered accountant who lives in Inverness, said: ‘Now that we have spies in the skies above Loch Ness, maybe we will get more sightings which will whet the appetite of more down to earth Nessie hunters to come north. 
 
 ‘Furthermore, the use of satellite technology means that if Nessie is just swimming below the surface like in this case, we can still pick her up.’ 
 
 He added: ‘Last year was the first time in almost 90 years that Nessie wasn’t seen at all. After Nessie “going missing” for 18 months, it’s great to see her back.’ 
 
 Despite the club’s claim, however, another explanation for the shape seen in the image could simply be underwater currents in the loch. 
 
 Elusive sight: This picture, taken by Dr Kenneth Wilson in 1934, is said to show the Loch Ness Monster 
 
 THE LOCH NESS MONSTER: FACT OR FICTION? 
 
 The legend of the Loch Ness Monster has been around since the sixth century, when an Irish monk called Saint Columba witnessed locals burying a man who had been attacked by a 'water beast.' One of the first famous sightings was in 1933, when George Spicer and his wife claimed they saw 'a most extraordinary form of animal' which was 4ft high and 25ft long crossing the road near the loch. The following year, Dr Robert Kenneth Wilson took a picture, in main story above, which is now the most famous picture of the monster, although it was later revealed to be a hoax made with a toy from Woolworth's. Hunter Marmaduke Wetherell, centre, was said to have faked footprints which he said were the 'monster's' And in 1935, renowned big game hunter Marmaduke Wetherell found a footprint he said was the monster's. It was later revealed to have been made by him using a dried hippo's foot of the type used as umbrella stands at the time. Despite many recording sightings over the years, most have been revealed to be hoaxes and scientists do not give credence to the suggestion that a monster lives in the loch. ||||| LONDON (Reuters) - A high-tech marine drone scouring the depths of Scotland’s Loch Ness for one of nature’s most elusive beasts has found a “monster” - but not the one it was looking for. 
 
 Subsea engineer John Haig launches Munin, an intelligent marine robot, to explore Loch Ness in Scotland, Britain April 13, 2016. REUTERS/Russell Cheyne 
 
 Rather than the fabled Loch Ness Monster itself, the probe has discovered a 30-foot (9 meter) replica used in the 1970 film “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes,” which sank nearly 50 years ago after its buoyant humps were removed. 
 
 Undeterred, the enthusiastic monster-hunters steering the drone are continuing their two-week search for any evidence that might prove the existence of “Nessie”. 
 
 The survey by Norwegian company Kongsberg Maritime has been the most detailed to date of the Loch’s icy depths. 
 
 The Munin drone is capable of mapping vast areas down to 1,500 feet and is often used to locate downed aircraft. 
 
 “The vehicle allows sonars to scan just a few meters from the loch floor, giving resolution several orders of magnitude greater than anything before,” said Kongsberg Maritime engineer Craig Wallace. 
 
 Along with the movie replica, it has also found a 27-foot shipwreck as it maps the Loch floor. 
 
 Far from being disappointed by the findings, Steve Feltham who has been hunting Nessie for 25 years, says the maps will help him in his quest. 
 
 “I think the findings are fantastic,” he said. “We now have a more detailed map of the rock bottom than ever before, which will show us the location of every lump and bump. 
 
 “We can send back cameras to look at anything of interest which could turn out to be the carcass of the animal,” he added. “It’s shown there’s a hell of a lot more to investigate.” 
 
 The first written record of a monster relates to the Irish monk St Columba, who is said to have banished a “water beast” to the depths of the River Ness in the 6th century. 
 
 The most famous picture of Nessie, known as the “surgeon’s photo”, was taken in 1934 and showed a head on a long neck emerging from the water. 
 
 It was revealed 60 years later to have been a hoax that used a sea monster model attached to a toy submarine. 
 
 Countless unsuccessful attempts to track down the monster have been made in the years since, notably in 2003 when the BBC funded an extensive scientific search that used 600 sonar beams and satellite tracking to sweep the full length of the loch. 
 
 It concluded there was probably nothing there.
– UK scientists have made a nifty, unprecedented discovery about Scotland's Loch Ness, but prepare to be a little disappointed. They found that tides from the nearby North Sea caused the land underneath the lake to shift ever so slightly, resulting in a change in depth of 0.06 inches at either end, depending on whether the tide was in or out. One professor likened it to a carpenter's bubble level, notes the BBC. "I have described Loch Ness as the largest spirit level in the world," he says. "If you were on a boat in the middle of the loch, you certainly wouldn't notice it," adds another. "But a tide like this has never been observed in a western European lake before." The scientists used underwater pressure sensors at various spots in the lake to get the astonishing accuracy, explains Discovery. The hope is that the method can be used at other lakes to shed more light on how oceans affect the Earth's crust. (The study, here, fails to mention the elephant in the room, but a Fark headline suspects that the lake level changes because Nessie is getting out to towel off.)