A big hunt for the Loch Ness monster has begun: hundreds of volunteers and drones participate in it

Next weekend, hundreds of enthusiasts will take part in the largest organized hunt for the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland in 50 years. TheGuardian.

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Using drones and acoustic equipment, hundreds of volunteers from all over the world will search for traces of the legendary creature.

90 years ago, Oldie McKay, manager of the Drumnadrochit Hotel, burst into the bar one evening and told stunned patrons that she had just seen a "water monster" in Loch Ness.

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It was this incident, which the Inverness Courier newspaper zealously wrote about, that marked the beginning of modern myth-making around an elusive monster that survives in the depths of the lake.

Hunting

Volunteers from around the world, organized by the Loch Ness Centre, will take part in person and online in what is believed to be the largest ground observation. Its purpose is to look out and look for footprints in the water and any unexplained movements over a two day period.

In collaboration with the volunteer research group Loch Ness Exploration, surveying equipment will be deployed for the hunt.

It has never been used on Loch Ness before, including drones to create thermal images of the water from the air using infrared cameras, and a hydrophone to detect acoustic signals below the surface.

The recently renovated Loch Ness Center is housed in the old Drumnadrochit Hotel where Oldie McKay worked.

The monster helps the economy

Over the years, scientists and amateur enthusiasts have tried to find evidence of the existence of a large fish like the sturgeon living in a 230-meter-deep lake, or even a prehistoric marine reptile like the plesiosaur, but without success.

“Our goal has always been to record, study and analyze all sorts of natural phenomena that are perhaps more difficult to explain,” said Alan McKenna from Loch Ness Exploration, who will brief volunteers each morning live from Loch Ness Center on what to expect. what to pay attention to and how to record the results. “We hope to inspire a new generation of Loch Ness enthusiasts.” By joining these large-scale ground-based observations, you will have a real opportunity to personally contribute to solving this exciting mystery that excites so many people around the world.”

Fraser Campbell, director of the Cobbs Group, which owns the new Drumnadrochit Hotel as well as other properties along the A82, a road that fringes the lake's western shore, said renewed interest in the monster legend has led to "an incredible amount of bookings" for this entire summer season.

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"Hotels and attractions working together is how we're going to survive," Campbell said. Highland continues to feel the effects of the combined impact of Brexit, depopulation and the cost of living crisis.

The area has much more to offer than a mythical monster, says Campbell.

“At one end we have Britain's highest mountain and at the other we have the largest areas of fresh water. It’s an amazing place and every season is different,” he says.

Paul Nixon, CEO of the Loch Ness Centre, said part of the enduring appeal of the Loch Ness Monster story is its accessibility: "You can literally stop by the lake and be a part of it."

A bit of history

The earliest mention of a monster in the vicinity of the lake dates back to the Middle Ages, when the Irish monk Saint Columba is said to have encountered a "water beast" in the River Ness, which flows out of the lake.

The story caught worldwide attention in 1933, when the Inverness Courier newspaper reported that hotel manager Aldy McKay had spotted "a whale-like creature." And later that year, George Spicer told the same newspaper that he saw "an oddly shaped animal" that crossed the road in front of his car and disappeared into the lake.

McKay later admitted that she knew about the ancient legend about the "beast" in the vicinity of the lake long before she herself announced its appearance.
Since the 1940s, this creature has been affectionately called "Nessie".

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In the 1960s, the Loch Ness Bureau of Investigation was created, which in 1972 conducted the largest search for the monster to date.

In 1987, Operation Deepscan deployed sonar equipment across the entire width of the lake and claimed to have found "an unidentified object of unusual size and strength."

In 2018, an international team of researchers from the Universities of Otago, Copenhagen, Hull and the Highlands and the Islands conducted a DNA study of the lake looking for unusual species and later ruled out the presence of any large animals that could be the cause of the monster reports.

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