Loch Ness monster hunters converge in Scotland for largest Nessie search in decades

Hundreds of people gathered in the Scottish Highlands over the weekend in what is considered the largest search for the mythical Loch Ness monster in at least 50 years. 

An estimated 200 volunteers converged on Loch Ness, either boarding boats or lining the banks of the freshwater loch, in “horrific” weather to search for the monster affectionately dubbed “Nessie,” The Independent newspaper reported. 

The search lasted from Saturday to Sunday, with investigators reporting they heard four “distinctive noises” using an underwater microphone called a hydrophone system. 

“When we were testing the equipment, we did hear four distinctive noises that we didn’t know where it was coming from,” volunteer Alan McKenna, of Edinburgh, told the Independent. 

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“We didn’t know the origin of it was, which is quite exciting,” he added. 

The Loch Ness Centre, an historical group dedicated to “uncovering the mysteries of the loch,” teamed up with a local voluntary research team called the Loch Ness Exploration group to launch the hunt on Saturday, which organizers called “The Quest.”

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Volunteers braved wicked weather over the weekend in order to take part in what organizers said was the “biggest surface watch of Loch Ness for more than 50 years.”

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“The weather in Scotland was horrific over the weekend, so much so that the Scottish Highland Games were canceled for the first time in 75 years, but that didn’t stop us – and that didn’t stop our volunteers,” McKenna said. 

“We’ve had people coming from all over the world,” he said, rattling off that volunteers traveled from Finland, Spain, France, Germany and elsewhere for the hunt. 

The Loch Ness monster’s history dates back to the sixth century, when written documents claim Irish monk St. Columba banished a “water beast” to the River Ness, according to Reuters. The creature grew in fame in 1934 when a photo showed a beast with a long neck poking its head above the loch’s waters. The photo was later deemed a hoax. 

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Those who were unable to travel to Scotland for the hunt were encouraged to livestream the search. 

“I believe there is something big lurking in the depths of Loch Ness,” general manager of the Loch Ness Centre, Paul Nixon, told the Independent. 

“Now I don’t know whether it’s a monster – I don’t know what it is, but I reckon there’s something down there.”