Loch Ness monster camera set up 55 years ago accidentally found by Boaty McBoatface
An unmanned submarine accidentally uncovered an underwater camera that is believed to have been set up 55 years ago in hopes of capturing a photo of the elusive Loch Ness monster.
The United Kingdom's National Oceanography Centre was testing the sub, which was named Boaty McBoatface in a viral online poll in 2016, when mooring for the camera system got tangled in its propeller, the center said in a statement Monday.
"While this wasn't a find we expected to make, but we're happy that this piece of Nessie hunting history can be shared and perhaps at least the mystery of who left it in the loch can be solved," Sam Smith, an engineer with the center's marine autonomous and robotics systems groups, said in the release.
Adrian Shine, who has been researching the loch in Scotland since the 1970s, helped identify the camera as one of six lowered nearly 600 feet below the loch's surface by Roy Mackal, of the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau and the University of Chicago.
"It was an ingenious camera trap consisting of a clockwork Instamatic camera with an inbuilt flash cube, enabling four pictures to be taken when a bait line was taken," Shine, of The Loch Ness Project, said in a statement. "It is remarkable that the housing has kept the camera dry for the past 55 years, lying more than 130m (426 feet) deep in Loch Ness."
One of the engineers from the NOC was able to develop images from the camera, which show the loch's murky depths, the center said. The NOC has since turned over the camera and its film to The Loch Ness Centre in Drumnadrochit.
Nagina Ishaq, general manager of the center, thanked the NOC for its contribution in the release.
'It's been over 90 years since the first sighting of Nessie, since then there have been many expeditions to find the elusive beast," she said. 'We are guardians of this unique story and, as well as investing in creating an unforgettable experience for visitors, we are committed to helping continue the search and unveil the mysteries that lie underneath the waters of the famous Loch."
Boaty McBoatface made a real discovery: Unmanned sub sends valuable data
The Autosub underwater vehicle is a $300 million British research vessel, which has been used to study the link between Antarctic winds and rising sea temperatures.
The bright yellow ocean robot gained global fame in 2016 after voters overwhelmingly chose its name in an online poll. But the British government rejected the idea, saying it wasn't "suitable" for the grand vessel later named after famed English naturalist David Attenborough.
The National Oceanography Centre said it was testing two Autosub vehicles, one used for mapping seabed habitats and another for long range autonomous operations, that can dive nearly 20,000 feet below the ocean's surface.
'The ocean covers 70% of the surface of the earth, but there's still so much we don't know about it, the life in it, how both interact with our atmosphere and how climate change will impact those relationships,' said Matthew Kingsland, of the center's marine autonomous and robotics systems group. 'With our robots we're also helping to map and monitor marine life to understand how our actions, such as offshore renewable energy development, fishing and deep-sea mining change habitats and ecosystems."
Though the camera reportedly did not capture any images of the Loch Ness monster and no definitive proof of the monster's existence has ever been found, the latest discovery comes after the center announced a potential Nessie sighting had been reported for the first time in 2025.
🚨 2025's First Potential Nessie Sighting! 👀🐉Loch Ness has kicked off the year with an exciting mystery! A visitor at...
Posted by The Loch Ness Centre on Wednesday, March 5, 2025
Aimee Todd, the center's marketing manager, told USA TODAY earlier this month that a purported photo of the mythical creature was taken on Jan. 29 by a man on the shores of Scotland's Dores Beach. Todd said the center reached out to experts including Alan Mackenna of Loch Ness Exploration to authenticate the image.
In May, the center will be holding a massive search for Nessie dubbed "The Quest," Todd said, and volunteers will monitor the surface of the lake at 13 different locations for over six hours. Searchers will also venture out on the center's boat and use a hydrophone to detect acoustic signals under the water, she said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Loch Ness Monster camera accidentally found by submarine
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