Editing Loch Ness Monster (section)

=={{anchor|Searches for the monster|Andrew Carroll's sonar study (1969)|Submersible investigations|"Big Expedition" of 1970|Discovery Loch Ness (1993)}}Searches==

==={{anchor|Sir Edward Mountain expedition (1934)}}Edward Mountain expedition (1934)===
[[File:LochNessUrquhart.jpg|thumb|alt=The loch on a cloudy day, with ruins of a castle in the foreground|Loch Ness, reported home of the monster]]
After reading [[Rupert Gould]]'s ''The Loch Ness Monster and Others'',<ref name="Gould" /> [[Edward Mountain]] financed a search. Twenty men with binoculars and cameras positioned themselves around the loch from 9&nbsp;am to 6&nbsp;pm for five weeks, beginning on 13 July 1934. Although 21 photographs were taken, none was considered conclusive. Supervisor James Fraser remained by the loch, filming, on 15 September 1934; the film is now lost.<ref>R. Binns (1983)'' The Loch Ness Mystery Solved'' {{ISBN|0-7291-0139-8}}, pp. 36–39</ref> Zoologists and professors of natural history concluded that the film showed a seal, possibly a grey seal.<ref name="TimesSeal">''The Times'' 5 October 1934, p. 12 Loch Ness "Monster" Film</ref>

===Loch Ness Phenomena Investigation Bureau (1962–1972)===
The ''Loch Ness Phenomena Investigation Bureau'' (LNPIB) was a UK-based society formed in 1962 by [[Norman Collins]], [[R. S. R. Fitter]], politician [[David James (British politician)|David James]], [[Peter Scott]] and Constance Whyte<ref>Henry H. Bauer, ''The Enigma of Loch Ness: Making Sense of a Mystery'', p. 163 (University of Illinois Press, 1986). {{ISBN|0-252-01284-4}}</ref> "to study Loch Ness to identify the creature known as the Loch Ness Monster or determine the causes of reports of it".<ref>Rick Emmer, ''Loch Ness Monster: Fact or Fiction?'', p. 35 (Infobase Publishing, 2010). {{ISBN|978-0-7910-9779-3}}</ref> In 1967 it received a grant of $20,000 from [[World Book Encyclopedia]] to fund a 2-year programme of daylight watches from May to October.  The principal equipment was 35&nbsp;mm movie cameras on mobile units with 20-inch lenses, and one with a 36-inch lens at [[Achnahannet, Loch Ness|Achnahannet]], near the midpoint of the loch. With the mobile units in laybys about 80% of the loch surface was covered.<ref name="Machine">{{Cite magazine |last=Spector |first=Leo |date=14 September 1967 |title=The Great Monster Hunt |magazine=Machine Design |location=Cleveland, Ohio |publisher=The Penton Publishing Co.}}</ref> The society's name was later shortened to the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau (LNIB), and it disbanded in 1972.<ref name=DMirror1972>{{Cite news |last=<!-anonymous letter commenting on news: name and address supplied--> |date=1 June 1972 |title=Take a Lesson from Nessie |work=Daily Mirror |location=London}}</ref> The LNIB had an annual subscription charge, which covered administration. Its main activity was encouraging groups of self-funded volunteers to watch the loch from vantage points with film cameras with telescopic lenses. From 1965 to 1972 it had a caravan camp and viewing platform at Achnahannet, and sent observers to other locations up and down the loch.<ref name="HolidayLNIB">{{Cite book |last=Holiday |first=F. W. |title=The Great Orm of Loch Ness: A Practical Inquiry into the Nature and Habits of Water-monsters |publisher=Faber & Faber |year=1968 |isbn=0-571-08473-7 |location=London |pages=30–60, 98–117, 160–173}}</ref><ref>Tim Dinsdale (1973) ''The Story of the Loch Ness Monster'' Target Books {{ISBN|0-426-11340-3}}</ref> According to the bureau's 1969 annual report<ref>{{Cite web |title=1969 Annual Report: Loch Ness Investigation |url=http://www.lochnessproject.org/adrian_shine_archiveroom/paperspdfs/LOCH_NESS_LNI69.PDF |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210326050640/https://www.lochnessproject.org/adrian_shine_archiveroom/paperspdfs/LOCH_NESS_LNI69.PDF |archive-date=26 March 2021 |access-date=8 July 2009}}</ref> it had 1,030 members, of whom 588 were from the UK.

==={{anchor|LNPIB sonar study (1967–1968)}}Sonar study (1967–1968)===
D. Gordon Tucker, chair of the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the [[University of Birmingham]], volunteered his services as a sonar developer and expert at Loch Ness in 1968.<ref name="Herald1968">{{Cite web |title=The Glasgow Herald - Google News Archive Search |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19681220&id=OX9AAAAAIBAJ&pg=3828,3632069 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028121050/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19681220&id=OX9AAAAAIBAJ&pg=3828%2C3632069 |archive-date=28 October 2021 |access-date=15 November 2020 |website=news.google.com}}</ref> His gesture, part of a larger effort led by the LNPIB from 1967 to 1968, involved collaboration between volunteers and professionals in a number of fields. Tucker had chosen Loch Ness as the test site for a prototype sonar [[transducer]] with a maximum range of {{convert|800|m|abbr=on}}. The device was fixed underwater at Temple Pier in Urquhart Bay and directed at the opposite shore, drawing an acoustic "net" across the loch through which no moving object could pass undetected. During the two-week trial in August, multiple targets were identified. One was probably a shoal of fish, but others moved in a way not typical of shoals at speeds up to 10 knots.<ref name="NS1968">''New Scientist'' 40 (1968): 564–566;  "Sonar Picks Up Stirrings in Loch Ness"</ref>

==={{anchor|Robert Rines's studies (1972; 1975; 2001; 2008)}}Robert Rines studies (1972, 1975, 2001, 2008)===
In 1972, a group of researchers from the Academy of Applied Science led by [[Robert H. Rines]] conducted a search for the monster involving sonar examination of the loch depths for unusual activity. Rines took precautions to avoid murky water with floating wood and peat.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wilford |first=John Noble |date=1976-05-28 |title=Scientists Plan All-Out Loch Ness Search |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/05/28/archives/scientists-plan-allout-loch-ness-search-scientists-are-organizing.html |access-date=2024-05-15 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> A submersible camera with a floodlight was deployed to record images below the surface. If Rines detected anything on the sonar, he turned the light on and took pictures.

On 8 August, Rines' [[Raytheon]] DE-725C sonar unit, operating at a frequency of 200&nbsp;kHz and anchored at a depth of {{convert|11|m}}, identified a moving target (or targets) estimated by echo strength at {{convert|6|to|9|m|0}} in length. Specialists from Raytheon, Simrad (now [[Kongsberg Maritime]]), Hydroacoustics, Marty Klein of the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT) and Klein Associates (a [[side-scan sonar]] producer) and Ira Dyer of MIT's Department of Ocean Engineering were on hand to examine the data. P. Skitzki of Raytheon suggested that the data indicated a {{convert|3|m|0|adj=on}} protuberance projecting from one of the echoes. According to author Roy Mackal, the shape was a "highly flexible laterally flattened tail" or the misinterpreted return from two animals swimming together.<ref>Roy Mackal (1976) ''The Monsters of Loch Ness'' p. 307, see also appendix E</ref>

Concurrent with the sonar readings, the floodlit camera obtained a pair of underwater photographs. Both depicted what appeared to be a [[rhomboid]] flipper, although sceptics have dismissed the images as depicting the bottom of the loch, air bubbles, a rock, or a fish fin. The apparent flipper was photographed in different positions, indicating movement.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Photographic image |url=http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/Nessie_Rines%20flipper.gif |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110829140111/http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/Nessie_Rines%20flipper.gif |archive-date=29 August 2011 |access-date=18 April 2017 |format=GIF}}</ref> The first flipper photo is better-known than the second, and both were enhanced and retouched from the original negatives. According to team member [[Charles Wyckoff]], the photos were retouched to superimpose the flipper; the original enhancement showed a considerably less-distinct object. No one is sure how the originals were altered.<ref name="Loch">{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/471348/loch-ness-monster-the-search-for-the-truth |title=Loch Ness Monster: Search for the Truth |year=2001 |people=Townend, Lorne (writer/director) |access-date=19 April 2018 |archive-date=20 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180420010513/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/471348/Loch-Ness-Monster-The-Search-For-the-Truth/ |url-status=live }}</ref> During a meeting with Tony Harmsworth and Adrian Shine at the Loch Ness Centre & Exhibition, Rines admitted that the flipper photo may have been retouched by a magazine editor.<ref name="Harmsworth">Harmsworth, Tony. ''Loch Ness, Nessie & Me: Loch Ness Understood and Monster Explained''.</ref>

British naturalist [[Peter Scott]] announced in 1975, on the basis of the photographs, that the creature's scientific name would be ''Nessiteras rhombopteryx'' (Greek for "Ness inhabitant with diamond-shaped fin").<ref name="scott1975">{{Cite journal |last1=Scott |first1=Peter |last2=Rines |first2=Robert |year=1975 |title=Naming the Loch Ness monster |journal=Nature |volume=258 |issue=5535 |page=466 |bibcode=1975Natur.258..466S |doi=10.1038/258466a0 |doi-access=free |issn = 0028-0836 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lawton |first=John H. |date=1996 |title=''Nessiteras Rhombopteryx'' |journal=Oikos |volume=77 |issue=3 |pages=378–380 |doi=10.2307/3545927 |jstor=3545927|bibcode=1996Oikos..77..378L }}</ref> Scott intended that the name would enable the creature to be added to the British register of protected wildlife. Scottish politician [[Nicholas Fairbairn]] called the name an [[anagram]] for "Monster hoax by Sir Peter S".<ref name="Dinsdalep171">Dinsdale, T. "Loch Ness Monster" (Routledge and Kegan Paul 1976), p. 171.</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Fairbairn |first=Nicholas |date=18 December 1975 |title=Loch Ness monster |page=13 |work=The Times |issue=((59,581)) |department=Letters to the Editor |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=19 December 1975 |title=Loch Ness Monster Shown a Hoax by Another Name |volume=125 |page=78 |work=[[The New York Times]] |agency=Reuters |issue=((43,063)) |quote=<!---London, 18 December (Reuters) – A Scottish member of Parliament has discovered an anagram for Nessiteras rhombopteryx...Nicholas Fairbairn, the MP, announced the anagram in a letter to The Times: 'Monster hoax by Sir Peter S.'--->}}</ref> However, Rines countered that when rearranged, the letters could also spell "Yes, both pix are monsters – R."<ref name="Dinsdalep171" />

Another sonar contact was made, this time with two objects estimated to be about {{convert|9|m|0}}. The strobe camera photographed two large objects surrounded by a flurry of bubbles.<ref name="LochNess76">{{Cite web |title=Martin Klein Home |url=http://www.martinklein.com/about-me/ewExternalFiles/MIT-Technology-A%20-Review-Search%20for%20Loch%20Ness%20Monster%201976-03.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803112032/http://www.martinklein.com/about-me/ewExternalFiles/MIT-Technology-A%20-Review-Search%20for%20Loch%20Ness%20Monster%201976-03.pdf |archive-date=3 August 2020 |access-date=24 February 2020}}</ref> Some interpreted the objects as two [[plesiosaur]]-like animals, suggesting several large animals living in Loch Ness. This photograph has rarely been published.

A second search was conducted by Rines in 1975. Some of the photographs, despite their obviously murky quality and lack of concurrent sonar readings, did indeed seem to show unknown animals in various positions and lightings. One photograph appeared to show the head, neck, and upper torso of a plesiosaur-like animal,<ref name="LochNess76" /> but sceptics argue the object is a log due to the lump on its "chest" area, the mass of sediment in the full photo, and the object's log-like "skin" texture.<ref name="Harmsworth" /> Another photograph seemed to depict a horned "gargoyle head", consistent with that of some sightings of the monster;<ref name="LochNess76" /> however, sceptics point out that a tree stump was later filmed during Operation Deepscan in 1987, which bore a striking resemblance to the gargoyle head.<ref name="Harmsworth" />

In 2001, Rines' Academy of Applied Science videotaped a V-shaped wake traversing still water on a calm day. The academy also videotaped an object on the floor of the loch resembling a carcass and found marine clamshells and a fungus-like organism not normally found in freshwater lochs, a suggested connection to the sea and a possible entry for the creature.<ref name="AAS">Robert H. Rines. [http://www.aas-world.org/sparks/V1-four/lochness.html Loch Ness Findings] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060823232005/http://www.aas-world.org/sparks/V1-four/lochness.html|date=23 August 2006}}. Academy of Applied Science.</ref>

In 2008, Rines theorised that the creature may have become [[extinction|extinct]], citing the lack of significant sonar readings and a decline in eyewitness accounts. He undertook a final expedition, using sonar and an underwater camera in an attempt to find a carcass. Rines believed that the animals may have failed to adapt to temperature changes resulting from [[global warming]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 February 2008 |title=Veteran Loch Ness Monster Hunter Gives Up – The Daily Record |url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2008/02/13/veteran-loch-ness-monster-hunter-gives-up-86908-20317853/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324030911/http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2008/02/13/veteran-loch-ness-monster-hunter-gives-up-86908-20317853/ |archive-date=24 March 2010 |access-date=28 April 2010 |publisher=Dailyrecord.co.uk}}</ref>

===Operation Deepscan (1987)===
Operation Deepscan was conducted in 1987.<ref name="Operation Deepscan Description">{{Cite web |title=Operation Deepscan |url=http://www.lochnessproject.org/adrian_shine_archiveroom/papershtml/loch_ness_scottish_naturalist.HTM |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150424181733/http://www.lochnessproject.org/adrian_shine_archiveroom/papershtml/loch_ness_scottish_naturalist.HTM |archive-date=24 April 2015 |access-date=29 January 2015 |website=www.lochnessproject.com}}</ref> Twenty-four boats equipped with [[echo sounding]] equipment were deployed across the width of the loch, and simultaneously sent [[acoustic wave]]s. According to [[BBC News]] the scientists had made sonar contact with an unidentified object of unusual size and strength.<ref>{{Cite web |title=''educational.rai.it'' (p. 17) |url=http://www.educational.rai.it/materiali/file_lezioni/58054_635980660759241554.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180311140936/http://www.educational.rai.it/materiali/file_lezioni/58054_635980660759241554.pdf |archive-date=11 March 2018 |access-date=11 March 2018}}</ref> The researchers returned, re-scanning the area. Analysis of the echosounder images seemed to indicate debris at the bottom of the loch, although there was motion in three of the pictures. Adrian Shine speculated, based on size, that they might be seals that had entered the loch.<ref name="firstscience1">{{Cite web |title=What is the Loch Ness Monster? |url=http://www.firstscience.com/home/articles/mysteries/what-is-the-loch-ness-monster-page-2-1_13093.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090604052901/http://www.firstscience.com/home/articles/mysteries/what-is-the-loch-ness-monster-page-2-1_13093.html |archive-date=4 June 2009 |access-date=28 May 2009 |publisher=Firstscience.com}}</ref>

Sonar expert Darrell Lowrance, founder of [[Lowrance Electronics]], donated a number of echosounder units used in the operation. After examining a sonar return indicating a large, moving object at a depth of {{convert|180|m}} near Urquhart Bay, Lowrance said: "There's something here that we don't understand, and there's something here that's larger than a fish, maybe some species that hasn't been detected before. I don't know."<ref>''Mysterious Creatures'' (1988) by the Editors of Time-Life Books, p. 90</ref>

===''Searching for the Loch Ness Monster'' (2003)===
In 2003, the BBC sponsored a search of the loch using 600 sonar beams and satellite tracking. The search had sufficient resolution to identify a small buoy. No animal of substantial size was found and, despite their reported hopes, the scientists involved admitted that this proved the Loch Ness Monster was a myth. ''Searching for the Loch Ness Monster'' aired on [[BBC One]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=27 July 2003 |title=BBC 'proves' Nessie does not exist |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3096839.stm |url-status=live |access-date=4 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180728024613/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3096839.stm |archive-date=28 July 2018}}</ref>

=== Adrian Shine and Kongsberg Maritime (2016) ===
Adrian Shine of The Loch Ness Project and [[VisitScotland]] supported a survey of the Loch using an underwater robot operated by [[Kongsberg Maritime]].<ref name="mckenzie">{{cite web|last=McKenzie|first=Steven|title=Film's lost Nessie monster prop found in Loch Ness|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-36024638|work=[[BBC News]]|date=13 April 2016|access-date=14 February 2024}}</ref> While investigating the depths of the loch, they found the resting place of a Nessie prop created for [[Billy Wilder]]'s 1970 film ''[[The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes]]''.<ref name="mckenzie"/><ref>{{cite web|last=Victor|first=Daniel|title=Loch Ness Monster Is Found! (Kind of. Not Really.)|website=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/14/world/europe/loch-ness-monster-found-kind-of-not-really.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160417013841/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/14/world/europe/loch-ness-monster-found-kind-of-not-really.html|date=13 April 2016|archivedate=17 April 2016|access-date=14 February 2024}}</ref> Wally Veevers had designed the prop<ref name="siddique">{{cite web|last=Siddique|first=Haroon|title=Loch Ness monster: remains of film model discovered by robot|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/apr/13/loch-ness-monster-remains-discovered-by-robot|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=13 April 2016|access-date=14 February 2024}}</ref> initially with a neck and two humps but Wilder disliked the humps and ordered them removed.<ref name="mckenzie"/> This change altered the buoyancy and the prop promptly sank into the loch during a filming test.<ref name="siddique"/>

===DNA survey (2018)===
An international team consisting of researchers from the universities of Otago, Copenhagen, Hull and the Highlands and Islands, did a [[DNA]] survey of the lake in June 2018, looking for unusual species.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Gemmell |first1=Neil |last2=Rowley |first2=Ellie |date=28 June 2018 |title=First phase of hunt for Loch Ness monster complete |work=[[University of Otago]] |url=https://www.otago.ac.nz/news/news/releases/otago690003.html |url-status=live |access-date=21 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421091013/https://www.otago.ac.nz/news/news/releases/otago690003.html |archive-date=21 April 2019}}</ref> The results were published in 2019; no DNA of large fish such as sharks, sturgeons and catfish could be found. No otter or seal DNA were obtained either, though there was a lot of eel DNA. The leader of the study, Prof [[Neil Gemmell]] of the [[University of Otago]], said he could not rule out the possibility of eels of extreme size, though none were found, nor were any ever caught. The other possibility is that the large amount of eel DNA simply comes from many small eels. No evidence of any reptilian sequences were found, he added, "so I think we can be fairly sure that there is probably not a giant scaly reptile swimming around in Loch Ness".<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 5, 2019 |title=Loch Ness Monster may be a giant eel, say scientists |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-49495145 |url-status=live |access-date=September 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190906050356/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-49495145 |archive-date=6 September 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Weaver |first=Matthew |date=September 5, 2019 |title=Loch Ness monster could be a giant eel, say scientists |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/sep/05/loch-ness-monster-could-be-a-giant-eel-say-scientists |url-status=live |access-date=September 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190906074243/https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/sep/05/loch-ness-monster-could-be-a-giant-eel-say-scientists |archive-date=6 September 2019}}</ref>

===High-Tech 2023 90th Anniversary Search===
In August 2023, a weekend of high-tech searching was done in observance of the 90th anniversary of the 1933 Aldie Mackay sighting. The event was coordinated by Loch Ness Exploration volunteers in collaboration with the Loch Ness visitor’s centre. The technology used included "sonar for mapping the loch bed; [[thermal imaging]] drones to scan the surface; and [[Hydrophone|hydrophones]] (underwater microphones)" which did record some sounds, but were "probably ducks". Despite a large turnout of searchers onsite and hundreds more viewing Internet livestream cameras pointed at the loch, there were no conclusive sightings.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Grossman |first1=Wendy |author-link=Wendy Grossman|title=Letter to America: The Benefit of Doubt |url=https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/letter-to-america-the-benefit-of-doubt/ |website=skepticlainquirer.org |publisher=Center for Inquiry |access-date=17 February 2024 |date=September 11, 2023}}</ref>