Monster, Inc Loch Ness's most famous local keeps head down

Around Loch Ness last Saturday, the hope was for sunshine. Would-be champions prepared for the Glenurquhart Highland Games, dedicated runners warmed up for the Loch Ness 24 endurance race - and volunteers readied their binoculars and notepads for the biggest search for the Loch Ness monster in 50 years.

- Eve Livingston

The weather wasn't on their side - most of the Highland Games was called off and runners' endurance was certainly tested in relentless rain. But as Alan McKenna from Loch Ness Exploration (LNE) greeted bright-eyed monster-hunters under a grey sky at 8.30am, the message was clear: "The weather is not perfect but that's not going to stop us."

An estimated 100 volunteers set up a vigil along the loch's 37km of shoreline, hoping for a sight of the monster Nessie. Hundreds more kept watch online from as far away as Argentina, New Zealand and Japan, while a few set sail in a boat equipped with sonar technology to detect any Nessie-like noises. Drones used infrared cameras to produce thermal images.

The aim, said McKenna, was not solely to find the Loch Ness monster but to "study the loch and its natural behaviour - the way it deceives you". He explained: "Natural phenomena can be just as magical and mysterious as the idea of the monster."