Ambitious Effort Works to Search for the Mythical Loch Ness Monster Transcript

People have been scanning the surface of a Scottish lake for centuries, in search of the Loch Ness Monster. This weekend, there is a decidedly more ambitious effort underway to see if there’s any truth to the legend. Ian Lee is at Loch Ness and joins us now. Good morning, Ian.

Good morning, Dana. The weather really isn’t cooperating, but this expedition is going forward, and they have everything. They have infrared cameras, thermal drones, a hydrophone to detect any sorts of sounds that may be lurking in this lake, really throwing everything at it over the next two days in the search for the legendary Loch Ness Monster. It will be the biggest search for Nessie in more than 50 years, with high-tech sensors in and over the water, and over 300 volunteers from around the world standing guard along the Loch’s hilly shores, cell phones and cameras in hand.

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This new quest to find Nessie is being funded by the local Loch Ness Centre and a volunteer group, looking for any solid evidence that could explain the sightings. The alleged monster was first spotted back in the sixth century by Saint Colomba, an Irish monk who said he encountered the beast in the River Ness, connecting the lock to the North Sea, but the legend really took hold in 1933 when the manager of a local hotel claimed to have seen a large whale-like creature splashing about on the surface. In the 90 years since, thousands of eyewitnesses have claimed to have seen something.

You’ve been a water bailiff here for 40 years. Do you think there’s a monster in these waters?

Oh. It’s not a case of I think there is. I know there is, from personal experience.

How can you say that?

Because, over the years, I’ve seen these creatures 18 times.

And various photos, films, and videos have kept the legend going. This weekend’s search is not the first organized hunt for the creature. The largest was conducted in 1972 when scores of volunteers scanned and filmed the water surface from various points around the Loch. In 1987, Operation Deep Scan tried a different approach with 20 sonar-equipped boats cruising up and down the 22-mile-long lake, looking for any unusual sonar hits under the water. They found three.

I don’t believe in Loch Ness Monsters myself, but I do know that there are some sonar contacts here, which intrigue me.

And in 2018, a team from New Zealand conducted a genetic study that found plenty of DNA from eels, bolstering theories that the monster might have been a very large one.

Eels are four to six foot in length. It’s plausible that there might be one or two that grow to extreme size.

The expedition has just started, and I’ve been able to speak to a few people. You have your true believers, you have your skeptics, but everyone, including ourselves, are going to be keeping our eyes peeled on this Loch over the next two days. Michelle?

Can’t wait to see what comes out of it. Thanks, Ian. Folks, where do you sit on this big question?

What if it just came up and swallowed Ian right now?

Well, maybe it’s behind you. Maybe it’s behind you.

I don’t want that to happen, of course, but I was just-

Well, what if it did?

I was thinking it, for just a second.

You’re so morbid.

I know. Well, it clearly exists.

Thank you you. That was-

But wouldn’t it be dead by now if it was way back?

Not if they keep-

It’s a magical animal, Dana.

Okay.

Yeah. No, but they can also have babies.

They can live for centuries. Babies, yes.

Baby Nessies?

Baby Nessies.

So there’s a family Ness.