Northern Irish company Waddell Media is making the one-hour programme for the Discovery Channel which will see scientists Dr Kenneth Carpenter, Dr Erika McPhee-Shaw and Dr Theo Willis visit the loch to debate what Nessie could look like in 2008.

Filming for the programme, which has the working title Living Loch Ness, ends on Thursday.

Philippe Cousteau, the American environmentalist and television presenter, who was filming with Australia's Crocodile hunter Steve Irwin when he was killed by a stingray two years ago, will present the show.

Associate producer Daniel Crozier said the scientists had never been to the loch before but were looking forward to trying to predict what may lurk within.

"Rather than questioning whether Nessie ever existed or hunting for her," he said. "We're going on the basis she still might be out there or at least may have been at some point. How would she need to survive in modern day Loch Ness?

"What would she eat and look like? We will be looking at the fish stock, vegetation, water temperatures and access routes."

The programme makers will use computer generated imagery to recreate what Nessie might look like and Mr Crozier believes she could possibly be made up to look like a reptile, amphibian or fish.

"Our deductions as to what she may look like will be partly based on eyewitness testimony and photographs as well as scientific data gathered over a number of years from the loch and surrounding area," he added.

Location scouts visited the area earlier this year and the programme makers have been working closely with the Loch Ness Project.

Some footage for the documentary, which will initially be broadcast in America before being shown worldwide, is scheduled to be shot at a laboratory in Inverness College.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Highlands and Islands Film Commission said there had been a surge in interest from companies wanting to shoot film productions on Loch Ness, adding it was now one of the most popular locations in the country.

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