By Tim Binnall
Organizers of a forthcoming search for the Loch Ness Monster have announced a new partnership with a marine exploration company that will deploy an advanced underwater vehicle to map the floor of the famed Scottish site. To be held over the last weekend in May, the increasingly popular annual event known as The Quest launched in 2023 and is produced by the Loch Ness Centre tourist attraction and the Loch Ness Exploration (LNE) research group. This year, that collaboration has reportedly expanded to include a new partner who is familiar with aquatic mysteries.
Marine exploration company Deep Sea Vision will participate in this year's Quest by deploying one of its cutting-edge underwater drones, dubbed Micro Millie, to document the floor of Loch Ness with imaging technology that is far beyond anything used in the past. The device will specifically scour the Urquhart Bay area, which is of most interest to both monster hunters and scientists. Allowing for the company to put its vehicles through the proverbial paces in the "unique and challenging environment," Deep Sea Vision president of operations Craig Wallace described as "the beginning of a longer-term collaboration to map Loch Ness at much higher resolution."
Interestingly, the Quest is not the first dalliance with the unknown for Deep Sea Vision, as the company made worldwide headlines back in January of 2024 when it revealed a rather stunning sonar image. Captured during an exhaustive $11 million expedition of the Pacific Ocean, the tantalizing picture appeared to show a submerged plane that was suspected of possibly being Amelia Earhart's lost aircraft. Alas, a later visit to the location revealed the 'mystery object' to be a pile of rocks. With that in mind, one hopes the company has better luck at Loch Ness.