Loch Ness monster: prepared the largest search operation in half a century

Enthusiasts who believe in the existence of the Loch Ness Monster are gearing up for the biggest search for the mysterious creature in 50 years. Using unmanned aerial vehicles and acoustic equipment, hundreds of volunteers from around the world are taking part in monitoring the surface of a mysterious Scottish lake.

It’s been ninety years since Oldie Mackay, manager of the Drumnadrochit Hotel, stormed into the bar one night to tell dumbfounded patrons that she had just witnessed a “water monster” in Loch Ness, writes The Guardian.

It was this sighting, diligently reported by the Inverness Courier, that launched the modern myth-making around the elusive monster that lives in the depths of the Highland Loch, and hundreds of Nessie enthusiasts are expected to take part next weekend in the largest organized hunt for the mysterious creature in 50 years. years.

Volunteers from around the world, organized by the newly revamped Loch Ness Center, will take part in what is believed to be the largest land-based observation in person and online, looking for breaks in the water and any unexplained movements over the course of two days.

In partnership with the volunteer research group Loch Ness Exploration, the creature hunters are deploying surveying equipment never before seen on Loch Ness, including drones to take thermal images of the water from the air using infrared cameras, as well as a hydrophone to detect acoustic signals below the surface.

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

Over the years, scientists and hobby enthusiasts have tried to find evidence of a large fish like the sturgeon living in a 230-meter (755-foot) deep lake, or even a prehistoric marine reptile like the plesiosaur, without success.

Alan McKenna of Loch Ness Exploration, who will instruct volunteers on what to look for and how to record results each morning live from the Loch Ness Center, notes: “Our goal has always been to record, study and analyze all kinds of natural behavior and phenomena that may be more difficult to understand. We hope to inspire a new generation of Loch Ness enthusiasts, and you will have a real opportunity to personally contribute to unraveling this exciting mystery that has captivated so many people from all over 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 runs along the lake’s western shore, said renewed interest in the monster legend has led to “incredible” bookings during this summer season.

“Hotels and visitor attractions working together is how we’re going to survive,” Campbell said as the Scottish Highlands continue to suffer from the combined impact of Brexit, depopulation and a cost-of-living crisis.

The area has much more to offer than a mythical monster, he adds: “We have Britain’s highest mountain on one end and the largest fresh water supply on the other. This is an amazing place, and every season is different here.”

Paul Nixon, general manager of the Loch Ness Centre, said part of the enduring appeal of the Loch Ness Monster story is its accessibility: “You can literally drive up to the lakeshore and be a part of it.”

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 idea caught the world’s attention in 1933 when the Inverness Courier reported seeing a “whale-like creature” by hotel manager Aldie McKay, and later that year, George Spicer told the same paper that he had seen “an animal of the most unusual forms”, crossing the road in front of their house. car and disappear into the lake.

McKay later admitted that she knew about the ancient tradition of the “beast” in the vicinity of the lake long before she claimed her own sighting.

Since the 1940s, this creature has been affectionately nicknamed “Nessie”.

In the 1960s, the Loch Ness Bureau of Investigation was established and in 1972 the largest survey of the lake to date was carried out.

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 behind reports of the monster.