Offbeat

Don't come at me for the spelling of diarrhea, That's from the article title 😂

Seeking: Monster hunters.

The Loch Ness Centre is calling one and all to join a massive search this month for Nessie, the mythical beast said to inhabit the waters of Scotland’s famed Loch Ness — hoping to make it the largest hunt for the monster in more than 50 years.

Experienced Nessie researchers will use modern technology that has never before scanned the waters, said the center, which runs an exhibition and tours of the lake. They’re asking volunteers and “budding monster hunters” to join in and watch the surface of the 23-mile-long lake.

The event, scheduled for Aug. 26 and 27, could be the largest surface watch since 1972, said Alan McKenna of Loch Ness Exploration, a volunteer research team that’s working with the Loch Ness Centre. Its organizers hope the “Quest Weekend” will draw searchers to join the centuries-long tradition of looking for the Loch Ness monster.

“It’s our hope to inspire a new generation of Loch Ness enthusiasts,” McKenna told the BBC. “You’ll have a real opportunity to personally contribute towards this fascinating mystery that has captivated so many people from around the world.”

Cradled by green slopes, the vast blue lake sits in the Scottish Highlands, near the city of Inverness and about a 3½-hour drive from Edinburgh. Though Nessie has never been proved to exist, the myth’s attraction — like that of Bigfoot or Sasquatch — has endured over the decades, sparking research, exploration and stories.

McKenna told The Washington Post on Saturday that he’d heard from many reporters and “friends from around the world” since the announcement of the project.

During Quest Weekend, the researchers will use airborne drones that make thermal images of the water with infrared cameras, according to the center. They’ll also use a hydrophone that picks up acoustic signals — “any Nessie-like calls” — underwater. Meanwhile, they’ll stage six surface-watch locations, and anyone who signs up to join will indicate what area they plan to observe. (They can also note whether they believe in “Nessie, nonsense, or possibilities.”)

“The weekend gives an opportunity to search the waters in a way that has never been done before, and we can’t wait to see what we find,” Paul Nixon, Loch Ness Centre’s general manager, told the Scottish Daily Express.

Whiskey in the jar-o... I mean, spray bottle.

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/news/t/266040

Local media reports the animal escaped from a circus but has since been returned.