Loch Ness monster search in Scotland: Where is Nessie?

Come August 26 and 27, 2023, researchers will try to solve the mystery of the Loch Ness sea monster by using infrared cameras.

Drones will observe the surface of Loch Ness and record even the slightest movement. A hydrophone will detect unusual underwater sounds, while scores of volunteers will stand on the shore to immediately report possible signs of life.

"It's an organized observation of Loch Ness, which is great," Nessie searcher Steve Feltham told the dpa news agency. "The more eyes on the water, the better." The man has been searching for the monster for more than 30 years — arguably longer than anyone else.

An ancient monster

The large-scale operation is organized by the Loch Ness Centre in Drumnadrochit, a town on the western shore of the lake, and a volunteer research team called Loch Ness Exploration.

"Loch" is the Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Scots word for a lake or sea inlet, while "Nessie" is the now iconic nickname of the mythical, serpent-like creature that's believed to have roamed the depths of the freshwater lake named Ness, located in the Scottish Highlands, for centuries. 

As early as the year 565, the Irish abbot, missionary and scholar St. Columba of Iona is said to have encountered the "water monster" on the River Ness. In the 7th century biographer St. Adamnan's book, "The Life of Saint Columba," it is reported that the saint saved a man who had been attacked by the creature. "Columba made the sign of the cross in the air and invoked the name of God, while commanding the wild beast, 'You will go no further! Do not touch the man! Leave at once!' At the saint's words, the monster fled in fear, as if it were being pulled back with ropes, even though it had only been a short distance away from the man."

1,000 years later, Nessie was said to have slain three men, but otherwise the sea monster has been surprisingly peaceful. What is certain from these sightings, however, is that Nessie has many years under its belt. This also means that it has enough experience to shake off hunters in the up to 230-meter-(750-feet)-deep lake. And they have been on its trail several times — at least since it finally became a celebrity in the media age.

Nessie, the media sensation

In 1933, hotel manager Aldie Mackay stormed into a bar and announced to the astonished patrons that she had just seen a "monster" in Loch Ness, and that the waters of the lake had been very churned up.  The Scottish regional newspaper Inverness Courier picked up the story of the mysterious creature — and it spread like wildfire. Reporters came from London, and a circus offered 20,000 English pounds to capture the monster. The following year, a motorcyclist described how the creature had crossed the road. It reportedly moved forward on flippers and had a sheep in its mouth. As soon as it reached the lake, it submerged into the waters. Now, there was no stopping the Nessie fans from coming from all over the world.

The proof: a photo of the monster

On April 19, 1934, the tabloid Daily Mail published the first photo of Nessie. Supposedly taken by a renowned London doctor, the snapshot, which went down in history as the "Surgeon's Photograph," showed a kind of prehistoric plesiosaur. A sensation — no one doubted the authenticity of the photo.

The big game hunter Marmaduke Wetherell was commissioned by the Daily Mail to search for the Loch Ness monster. And he delivered; he had his stepson Christian Spurling, an accomplished model maker, construct a monster from a toy submarine, with the head and neck modeled in plastic. The doctor who allegedly took the "evidence" photo thus took pleasure in having been part of the hoax — it supposedly gave the story more credibility that a bystander had shot the picture — until it was exposed as a trick 60 years later.

Systematic investigations of the lake without findings

However, this did not stop the Nessie hunters from continuing to search for evidence of its existence. Again and again, there were new photos, which were examined in laboratories of the British defense museum and NASA for their authenticity — and fakes were repeatedly said to not be among them.

In 1972, the lake was systematically searched under the direction of the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau, which wanted to prove the existence of a prehistoric creature — yet, to no avail. In 1987, boats using sonar technology were finally used to track down the supposed secret. Operation Deepscan saw 24 boats equipped with echo sounders carrying out a thorough sonar sweep of the 56-square-kilometer (about 14,000-acre) loch. While the sonar detectors reacted to large objects several times, Nessie was not detected. In 2019, an international team of scientists attempted to catalog all living species in Loch Ness by extracting DNA from water samples. Their conclusion: A large species does not live in the loch, and the sightings could at most be giant eels.

Nessie deniers and Nessie believers

Countless speculations about Nessie's true identity have been made over the years: From Greenland shark to a catfish to even a primeval lizard. Skeptics try to explain the supposed sightings of the monster with seals, jumping fish, water birds, floating deer, drifting logs and even mirages.

But despite all the deniers, Nessie enthusiasts have not been deterred from searching for the monster even in the 21st century. "We are the custodians of this unique story and are invested not only in creating an unforgettable experience for visitors, but also committed to... uncovering secrets that lie beneath the waters of the famous Loch," Paul Nixon, chief executive of the Loch Ness Centre, told the Daily Mail.

Of course, the whole thing could be mistaken for a marketing stunt, as Nessie attracts countless tourists to Scotland. But maybe Nessie really does exist. "We hope to inspire a new generation of Loch Ness enthusiasts," Alan McKenna of Loch Ness Exploration told British media agency PA. "By joining this large-scale surface search, you have the opportunity to personally contribute to this fascinating mystery that has intrigued so many people around the world."

If Nessie does make an appearance, it has nothing to fear. Back in 1934, it was placed under species protection. At that time, the Guinness Brewery had put a bounty of 500,000 English pounds on the monster — and the legend of Nessie should still keep future generations guessing about whether it really exists.

This article was originally written in German.