Search for Loch Ness monster goes online with Google

HIGHLAND Nessie hunters can now search for the Loch Ness monster online after a technology giant launched a project allowing them to scour its waters.

Folk looking for the mysterious monster can now use Google Street View to look around Loch Ness.

When searching in the area, the usual yellow Google Pegman changes to a Nessie peg-monster, giving users the power to zoom into different areas of the loch.

Google Street View and Catlin Seaview Survey teams spent a week at the loch as they performed an undercover operation to photograph above and below the waters.

Adrian Shine, leader of the Loch Ness Project and designer of the Loch Ness Centre Exhibition at Drumnadrochit, said: "To search for the Yeti, you’d have to spend days trekking through the Himalayas.

"For Big Foot, you’d have to take a deep hike into the forests of north America, but if you want to look for our much loved Scottish monster, all you have to do is travel to Loch Ness and enjoy a beautiful stroll around its waters."

He added that the project was "cloaked in secrecy" and that when people asked about the ripples in the Loch during the special diving expeditions for once he had no opinion.

The Google launch date on Tuesday coincided with the most famous photograph of the Loch Ness Monster – the Surgeon’s Photograph – which was published on April 21, 1934.

Tuesday’s Google Doodle – the image that users see when they visit the seach engine – also gave a nod to the infamous snap, which was reported as being a fake and actually a toy submarine.

Special Loch Ness Street View and YouTube footage was released, including behind the scenes shots and a video illustrating the loch and its surrounding area.

VisitScotland chief executive Malcolm Roughead said: "The Street View project is hugely exciting and we are delighted the team at Google have been as inspired about our monster as the hundreds and thousands of visitors who travel to Loch Ness every year hoping to catch a glimpse.

"Nessie is an enduring icon of Scotland – a character, a legend, a myth – whatever you want to call her, visitors from across the globe have been intrigued by her for more than 80 years.

"However, even without catching sight of the monster, the landscapes in and around Loch Ness are simply breath-taking and I would encourage everyone to add a trip here to their bucket list."

For more information about the Google Street View Loch Ness project, visit www.google-latlong.blogspot.co.uk

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