Hundreds join largest Loch Ness Monster hunt in 50 years

Alan McKenna, left, of Loch Ness Exploration, leads a group of "Nessie hunters" on the largest search for 50 years. Photo / Jeff J Mitchell, Getty Images

This week saw the largest hunt for Scotland’s fabled lake monster in 50 years, with hundreds of tourists joining the hunt on Loch Ness.

Sponsored by the Loch Ness Centre, near Urquhart Castle in Kilmore, the quest attracted sceptics and “Nessie” believers in equal numbers.

It was attended by visitors from as far afield as Japan and New Zealand and was about inspiring a “new generation of monster hunters”, the tourist attraction says.

The 1500-year-old myth about the lake’s monster gained international attention only relatively recently.

In the 1930s Nessie mania gripped the remote part of Scotland, after a photo by Robert Kenneth Wilson was published in The Daily Mail. Although the surgeon’s photo was exposed as a hoax, it inspired several “monster hunts”.

It also launched a surprising niche tourism economy bringing “Nessie hunters” to the borders of the Scottish Highlands.

This week’s hunt was the largest since 1972, with more than 1000 attendees.

Tourists were encouraged to go looking for evidence, if not outright proof, of the sea serpent.

Fish, fact or fiction - the monster is big business for the region.

In 2018 national tourism organisation VisitScotland said the mystery added $90 million to the local economy a year.

The Loch Ness Centre reopened earlier this year on the site of the old Drumnadrochit Hotel, after a $3 million refurbishment project.

Urquhart Castle is the romantic ruin on the shore of Loch Ness, close to the Loch Ness Centre, Kilmore. Photo / Ramon Vloon, Unsplash

New Loch Ness Centre for new generation of monster hunters

Alan McKenna, part of the group Loch Ness Exploration, said that their goal was to rekindle enthusiasm for the monster myth in a new generation.

“Since starting LNE, it’s always been our goal to record, study and analyse all manner of natural behaviour and phenomena that may be more challenging to explain,” he said.

Paul Nixon, general manager of the Loch Ness Centre, said they hoped it would be an unforgettable experience for visitors.

“We are committed to helping continue the search and unveil the mysteries that lie underneath the waters of the famous Loch,” Nixon said.

Using the latest technology, including infrared imaging and drones, gave curious tourists the best chance of a sighting since 1972.

Wet August weather, typical for the glen, did not dampen spirits or turnout.

Disappointing weather and a ‘most exciting’ picture

The hunt was not without event. This week photographer Chie Kelly shared previously unseen pictures of a mysterious object in the loch. She took the pictures back in 2018, but had not shared them until now, fearing public ridicule.

Inspired by this week’s “Great Nessie Quest” Kelly shared the photos to local monster hunter Steve Feltham.

Talking to The Scottish Sun, Feltham called them the “most exciting surface pictures I have seen” and a “vindication for all the people who believe there is something unexplained in Loch Ness.”

As well as hundreds of tourists, trawling the lake in person, local tourism body Visit Inverness says thousands more joined the hunt online.

The tourism body said New Zealanders are able to join the hunt, from the other side of the world, using five live cameras they have installed across the Great Glen.

Although the tourism body does not claim to be the “experts in Nessie sightings” they say the feeds have already picked up plenty of odd images. These include “weather, wildlife and the odd paddleboarder.”

Visit Inverness ask anyone manning the CCTV to share their screenshots to @visitinvernesslochness.

With night-vision and a 24 hour feed, they have upped the odds of spotting a monster.

The best known Loch Ness photo is the one of a purported head and neck. Aged seven I identified this creature. It was a plesiosaur Photo / Getty Images

At just over 50 square kilometres and with a maximum depth of 230 metres, Loch Ness is around a seventh the volume of Lake Te Anau in New Zealand.

Scotland’s second largest lake would be mediocre, if it weren’t for its legendary monster.

While experts have concluded the freshwater lake is too small to hold any great mystery, this has not stopped the hunt for a Loch Ness monster.

The largest such hunt was between 1969 and 1972. The Loch Ness Investigation was founded by a TV executive and local politician using a grant from the World Book Encyclopedia worth around $240,000 today.

Around 1,030 people signed up for the hunt, of whom 440 were international monster tourists.

Despite being led by Peter Scott, the son of the famous Antarctic explorer, they failed to find any evidence.