In partnership with the voluntary research team Loch Ness Exploration, the hunt will enlist surveying equipment that has never been used on Loch Ness before, including drones to produce thermal images of the water from the air using infrared cameras, as well as a hydrophone to detect acoustic signals beneath the surface.
Over the years, scientists and amateur enthusiasts have endeavoured to find evidence of a large fish such as a sturgeon living in the 230-metre (755ft) deep loch, or even a prehistoric marine reptile like a plesiosaur, but to no avail.
That’s quite the effort for a newspaper prank made up in the 1930s.
Ay but the beastie brings in the tourists unlike the Hairy Wild Haggis thit infest wir cauld dreich moors an threaten the peaceful habitat of the noo endangered Unicorn wey ther racket ,the noisy wee feckers thit they ur …Ay
A confirmed hoax too. But even if it weren’t a hoax, wouldn’t it be dead by now!?
Still, it’s a fun myth and a good excuse to either bring in tourism or to scientifically explore the marine ecosystem of the largest body of water in the UK. The recent 2019 DNA search was just that, a university-lead sophisticated study of ecological biodiversity, facaded with a news and funding grabbing “search for the monster” story.