The Loch Ness Centre, in partnership with Loch Ness Exploration, is seeking to recruit a small army of volunteers to join in what is described as the biggest search for the Loch Ness monster in 50 years. The Quest weekend is scheduled for Aug. 26 and 27.

The BBC quotes Alan McKenna, of Loch Ness Exploration, “It’s our hope to inspire a new generation of Loch Ness enthusiasts and by joining this large scale surface watch, you’ll have a real opportunity to personally contribute towards this fascinating mystery that has captivated so many people from around the world.”

Quest volunteers will be looking for anything unusual coming up from the depths as well as breaks in the water and other inexplicable movements. The center believes it is the biggest search for the creature since the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau (LNIB) studied the loch in 1972.

In addition to the volunteers, looking for possible signs of a creature from safe vantage points on land, the search will involve technology not widely used before for monster hunting. Drones fitted with infrared cameras are to be flown over the loch, and a hydrophone is to be used to detect unusual underwater sounds.

Special tours will also take place over the weekend with extended tourist trips across the loch to mark the search.

The earliest recorded Nessie sighting dates from 565 AD when an Irish saint was “said to have driven a beast back into the water.” Recent interest in the “monster'” can be traced to a sighting in 1933, when hotel manageress Aldie Mackay told of seeing a whale-like creature and the loch’s water “cascading and churning”.

The most famous photograph of the Loch Ness monster was a hoax. The “creature” depicted in Robert Wilson’s 1934 shot turned out to be nothing more than a toy submarine with a plastic head stuck on it.

On a recent trip to Scotland, we learned about strange and wild beasties in the loch. It turns out they were not monsters but rather a small herd of alpacas that had escaped their enclosure and decided to go for a swim.