Scientists are about to probe the depths of Loch Ness, not to look for the monster but simply for the bottom.
"This will be a serious scientific investigation and not a monster hunt," said David Hepple, curator of mollusks at the National Museums of Scotland in Edinburgh.In July, investigators from the Freshwater Biological Association and London's Natural History Museum will take samples of water and sediment and survey a V-shaped fissure in the lake bed.
Hepple said the water of Loch Ness is so clogged with peat fragments that it's too dark for divers to see more than a few inches below the surface.
"Loch Ness is deeper than the North Sea," Hepple said.
The scientists hope to find whether there are subterranean connections to the sea.
Sir John Murray, who carried out the last survey in 1903, reported the depth as 754 feet, but one recent report found it to be 820 feet deep.
Modern sightings of the monster, known as Nessie, were first reported in the 1930s, but the earliest recorded was in the sixth century when St. Columba was said to have ordered the beast to go away after it reared up before him on the Ness river.
The Natural History Museum experts say they are ready to believe Nessie exists if someone could come up with a piece of skin or bone or even a footprint.