The largest search for the Loch Ness Monster in five decades began this Saturday in the Scottish Highlands, with researchers and enthusiasts from around the world braving torrential rain in an attempt to find the elusive Nessie.
The expedition uses drones scanners thermals, boats with infrared cameras and an underwater hydrophone to unravel a mystery that has captivated the world for generations.
“There isn’t a corner of the world where people haven’t heard of Nessie, but it remains one of our biggest questions: What is the Loch Ness Monster?”Paul Nixon, director general of the Loch Ness Center, asked AFP.
“I don’t know what it is. All I know is there’s something big in Loch Ness. I’ve seen sonar scans, with objects the size of transporters moving underwater,” he added.
Tatiana Yeboah, 21, a French tourist whose visit coincided with the searches, said it was a lifelong dream to visit Loch Ness. “It could be a myth, it could be real, but I like to believe it’s somewhere in the middle”he said, making sure to keep his eyes on the lake during his visit to make sure he didn’t miss anything.
Researchers believe that the scanners Thermals can be critical in identifying strange anomalies in the dark depths. The hydrophone allows viewers to hear Nessie’s unusual underwater calls.
With a length of 36 kilometers and a maximum depth of 240 meters, this freshwater lake is the largest lake in Britain by volume.
Reports of a water monster lurking in Loch Ness date back to ancient times, with stone carvings in the area depicting a mysterious beast with fins.
The earliest written mention of the creature dates back to AD 565, in a biography by the Irish monk St. Columba. According to the text, the monster attacked a swimmer and was about to attack him again when Columba ordered it to retreat.
More recently, in May 1933, the local newspaper Inverness Courier reported that a couple driving along a newly built lakeside road saw “tremendous commotion” in the water.
There are currently over 1100 officially recorded sightings of Nessie, according to the Loch Ness Center in Drumnadrochit, near Inverness.
The monster generates millions of pounds in tourist revenue for the Scottish economy every year.
Over the years, scientists and hobbyists alike have tried to find evidence that a large fish, such as a sturgeon, lives in the depths of the lake. Some have suggested that the monster could be a prehistoric marine reptile, such as a plesiosaur.
In 1972, the Loch Ness Bureau of Investigation conducted its largest search yet, but returned empty-handed.
In 1987, Operation Deepscan used sonar equipment across the entire width of the lake and claimed to have found an “unidentified object of unusual size and strength”.
In 2018, researchers conducted a DNA study of Loch Ness to determine what organisms live in its waters. No signs of a plesiosaur or other large animal were found, although the results indicated the presence of numerous eels.
“This weekend gives us the opportunity to explore the waters in a way that has never been done before, and we can’t wait to see what we find,” Nixon added.
Source: DN
