Hundreds of volunteers equipped with webcams, drones, and hydrophones gathered in northern Scotland to search for Loch Ness Monster, often known as Nessie. According to the BBC, the two-day search over the weekend was the largest in 50 years.
What is the Loch Ness Monster?
The Loch Ness Center in Inverness is organizing the mystery hunt in collaboration with Loch Ness Exploration, a research group that explores the lake and other inexplicable events. Volunteers are monitoring the water from boats and the lakeshore, with others from across the world participating via webcams.
Stories about monsters have persisted for generations, but the contemporary story of Nessie only originated 90 years ago. In 1933, hotel manager Aldie Mackay reported seeing a “water beast” in the mountain-fringed loch, the largest body of freshwater by volume in the United Kingdom and one of the deepest, with depths of up to 750 feet (230 meters).
The mystery of Nessie spawned books, TV shows, and films after the incident in 1933 was reported by the local newspaper ‘The Inverness Courier,’ with its then editor Evan Barron describing the creature as a “monster.”
There have been thousands of independent sightings of the mythological creature up to this point. According to some theories, the creature is a prehistoric sea reptile, a big eel, a sturgeon, or even an escaped circus elephant.
Meanwhile, some feel the sightings are hoaxes or might be explained by floating logs or high winds, but the mythology is a benefit for tourism in the scenic Scottish Highlands region. “I believe there is something in the loch,” said a volunteer, adding, “I do think that there’s got to be something that’s fueling the speculation.”
