The Loch Ness Centre in Scotland is looking for ‘budding monster hunters’ to volunteer in a renewed search effort for the famous mythical Loch Ness monster.
‘The Quest Weekend’ will take place on 26 and 27 August, and will be the biggest search for the monster – affectionately known as ‘Nessie’ – for over 50 years.
Volunteers can sign up via an online form to take part in the event.
Loch Ness – Drumnadrochit, Scotland— (AFP via Getty Images)
“The weekend gives an opportunity to search the waters in a way that has never been done before,” says Paul Nixon, General Manager of the Loch Ness Centre, “we can’t wait to see what we find”.
Partnering with the Loch Ness Exploration research team, the search will utilise high-tech equipment that has never been used before in the area. This includes thermal drones to observe heat signals, and a hydrophone, to detect ‘Nessie-like calls’.
Alan McKenna, of Loch Ness Exploration said: It’s our hope to inspire a new generation of Loch Ness enthusiasts and by joining this large scale surface watch, you’ll have a real opportunity to personally contribute towards this fascinating mystery.”
The previous largest search was undertaken by the now-disbanded Loch Ness Investigation Bureau. Formed in 1962, this society received a grant of $20,000 to aid their mission (equivalent to over $202,000 today after inflation). The search effort concluded in 1972 with no affirmative results.
1969: A submarine is lowered into Loch Ness to begin its search for the monster— (Getty Images)
The legend of the Loch Ness monster dates back as far 565, with a report of a creature detailed in Life of St. Columba by the monk Adomnán, written in the sixth century AD.
Modern interest was sparked in 1933, when George Spicer and his wife described “a most extraordinary form of animal” cross the road in front of their car. Speaking to the Inverness Courier, they described a creature with a large body, no limbs and a large, slender neck.
A year later came the most infamous ‘sighting’ of Nessie, when the creature was captured by Robert Kenneth Wilson, a London gynaecologist, in the ‘Surgeon’s photograph’, published in the Daily Mail.
For 60 years, the photo was considered as evidence of Nessie’s existence. However, it was later revealed that the entire thing had been an elaborate hoax. A friend of Wilson’s with a grudge against the Mail had floated a toy submarine in the water and asked Wilson to sell images to the paper.
For more information about the Loch Ness Centre’s search, visit their website here.
