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The lake Loch Ness near Inverness in Scotland: home of Nessie?
Photo: Philipp Brandstädter/ dpa
It's getting tight for Nessie: With the largest search operation in decades, interested parties want to trace the myth of Loch Ness in Scotland anew. At the end of August, experts and volunteers will use state-of-the-art technology to examine the lake in the Highlands. Above water, drones with infrared cameras will generate thermal images for days, and below the surface, a hydrophone – a kind of underwater microphone – will record acoustic signals.
"It's an organized observation of Loch Ness, that's great," full-time Nessie seeker Steve Feltham told the dpa news agency. "The more eyes are on the water, the better." For more than 30 years, Feltham has been searching for the "monster" directly on the lake – probably longer than anyone else.
Centuries-old reports of sightings
Nessie is probably the best-known ambassador for Scotland. For centuries there have been reports of sightings of an alleged sea monster or a large, unknown creature in Loch Ness. Nessie tourism took off a good 90 years ago after the local newspaper »Inverness Courier« reported on the encounter of a hotel manager in the village of Drumnadrochit with a »water monster«.
The hotel is now home to the Loch Ness Centre, which provides information about Nessie and the loch and offers tours. The centre is collaborating with the Loch Ness Exploration (LNE) group in the search. The last time the lake was systematically searched for an unknown creature was in 1972 – at that time without result.
"We hope to inspire a new generation of Loch Ness enthusiasts," Alan McKenna of LNE told the PA news agency. "By joining this large-scale surface search, you have the opportunity to personally contribute to this fascinating mystery that has fascinated so many people around the world."
aeh/dpa