Eighty-one years ago, the first photo was taken of the infamous Loch Ness Monster, a mythical creature that according to legend inhabits Scotland and has inspired thousands to speculate about the existence of the infamous cryptid. Now Google is getting in on the action.
Google posted two Loch Ness-related updates on Tuesday that would interest cryptid hunters. First, there's Google's latest doodle, which is just plain fun. But more important, Google recently updated its Street View feature so that users can visit the land of Loch Ness and search for the creature themselves.
"For the project, Google partnered with Adrian Shine, leader of the Loch Ness & Morar Project, who says he has seen the monster before. Shine has reported more than 1,000 Loch Ness sightings," according to Google.
"You could say that the entire purpose of our civilization is to explore," Shine says in a YouTube video posted by Google. "Loch Ness is a lost world, but it's accessible through technology," reports USA Today.
While this is an interesting project, one must realize that there is a long history of people faking Loch Ness monster sightings. The original photo that was taken in 1934 was later discovered to be a fake, and believed to be unreliable by most experts.
Regardless, the tool is there for you to use. The pictures are great for spotting things on the top of the water but not for spying through the water. "We knew that at Loch Ness, because of the peat content of the water, which makes it more murky than normal, that it would be difficult to see," Deanna Yick, program manager for Google's Street View, told The Atlantic. For the most part, there's nothing new and revealing. However, a series of bumps in the water were captured in one set of Street View photos that some consider a bit suspicious.
