IN PICS | Scotland: Hundreds join largest Loch Ness monster hunt in 50 years

Two-day Loch Ness monster hunt begins

Hundreds of hopeful volunteers joined a two-day hunt for Scotland's fabled Loch Ness monster on Saturday and Sunday, in what the organisers have called the biggest search for the "Nessie" in more than five decades. 

According to a report by the news agency AFP, the expedition would deploy drones with thermal scanners, boats with infrared cameras and an underwater hydrophone. 

(Photograph:AFP)

'The Quest'

The so-called hunt was organised by the Loch Ness Centre which partnered with the voluntary research team Loch Ness Exploration to organise "The Quest".

The volunteers from across the world were allocated locations around the 37-kilometre-long lake to monitor for any signs of Nessie, while others took to boats. 

(Photograph:AFP)

New and improved equipment

As mentioned, this time around volunteers said that plan on using thermal drones which they said could prove crucial in identifying any strange anomalies in the murky depths. Additionally, people also plan on using a hydrophone to detect acoustic signals under the water.

"We did hear something. We heard four distinctive 'gloops'," said search leader Alan McKenna, as per Reuters. She added, "We all got a bit excited, ran to go make sure the recorder was on and it wasn’t plugged in."

(Photograph:AFP)

'Nessie': An aquatic ancient monster

The earliest written record of the monster dates back to AD 565 in a biography of the Irish monk, Saint Columba. As per the text, the monster attacked a swimmer and was about to strike again when Columba commanded it to retreat. Since then, the banished "water beast" is said to be living in the River Ness. 

(Photograph:AFP)

Is 'Nessie' real or fake? Here's what happened over the years

In May 1933, a report in the Inverness Courier newspaper said that a couple along a newly constructed lochside road saw "a tremendous upheaval" in the water. 

"There, the creature disported itself, rolling and plunging for fully a minute, its body resembling that of a whale, and the water cascading and churning like a simmering cauldron," the report said.

The most famous picture of Nessie, from 1934, showed a head on a long neck emerging from the water, but 60 years later it was revealed to have been a hoax.

It turns out it was a sea monster model attached to a toy submarine and since then there have been multiple unsuccessful attempts to track down the monster. 

(Photograph:AFP)

Decades-long search

Over the years, scientists and amateur enthusiasts have tried to find evidence of a large fish living in the depths of the loch. Some have suggested the monster could be a prehistoric marine reptile like a plesiosaur.

Earlier, Paul Nixon (not in the image), the general manager of the Loch Ness Centre that this weekend gave "an opportunity to search the waters in a way that has never been done before, and we can't wait to see what we find."

Nessie enthusiasts who could not make the trip were invited to participate in the hunt by watching live streams from the team's web cams for any mysterious sightings across the waters, reported Reuters. 

(Photograph:AFP)