UP TO 200 people turned out yesterday for the biggest search for the Loch Ness monster in over 50 years.
Boats ran from 10am to 6pm over the weekend with 17 different spotting locations around the loch, where volunteers could keep an eye on proceedings.
Loch Ness Monster hunters claimed to have have heard “four distinctive noises” as the volunteers braved “horrific” weather to take part in the biggest search for the mythical creature in 50 years.
Affectionately known as Nessie and popular in Scottish folklore since the 1930s, with dozens of volunteers lining the banks of the famous Scottish loch just outside Inverness.
Around 300 people also tuned in the efforts via a livestream.
The newly revamped Loch Ness Centre has teamed up with Loch Ness Exploration (LNE), an independent and voluntary research team, to carry out the hunt, which took place over Saturday and Sunday.
Alan McKenna, from Edinburgh, took part on a boat using a hydrophone system, which he said “is an underwater microphone so we can listen to the underwater world of Loch Ness”.
He said a test of the system on Friday had already raised questions about Nessie’s whereabouts: “When we were testing the equipment, we did hear four distinctive noises that we didn’t know where it was coming from.
“We didn’t know the origin of it was, which is quite exciting.”
McKenna added: “The weather in Scotland was horrific over the weekend, so much so that the Scottish Highland Games were cancelled for the first time in 75 years, but that didn’t stop us – and that didn’t stop our volunteers.”
He said visitors had come from across the world, including Spain, France, Germany and Finland.
“We’ve all kind of banded together. It’s been fantastic,” he said.
Paul Nixon, general manager of the Loch Ness centre, said he felt there was “something” in the lake worth looking for, adding: “I believe there is something big lurking in the depths of Loch Ness.
“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.”
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