Loch Ness: new Google Street View pics show 'strange' object

Google has released 360-degree Street View imagery of Loch Ness, enabling Nessie hunters to go in search of the fabled monster from their armchairs.

Adrian Shine, a marine biologist and Loch Ness expert, spent a number of days at the site with Google's camera equipment and Catlin Seaview Survey teams to take photographs both above and below the surface of the lake.

The pictures have been released 81 years after the famous "Surgeon's Photograph" (above) claimed to show the Loch Ness monster in the lake.

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Decades later, it was revealed to be a fake, but the legend of Nessie lives on. So much so that some enthusiasts think they can see the monster in one of the Street View images.

Google has turned up some "beautiful pictures of the lake", says The Inquisitr. "But the project may have turned up something much bigger – proof that the Loch Ness Monster really exists."

It points to an image (below) first spotted by the Daily Telegraph. "Has Google found the Loch Ness Monster?" asks the newspaper, pointing to the "strange, lumpen object floating on the loch's surface".

A Google spokesperson said they were "surprised" by the sighting too, wondering "Is it a log, a bird or... the monster?!"

Rob Waugh at the Metro is not convinced. "Spoiler: it's probably a log," he says.

Nevertheless, one organisation excited about the project is Scotland's tourism board, which hopes it will raise the profile of Loch Ness.

"The Street View project is hugely exciting and we are delighted the team at Google have been as inspired about our monster as the hundreds and thousands of visitors who travel to Loch Ness every year hoping to catch a glimpse," said VisitScotland chief executive Malcolm Roughead.

And if the new Maps features – and a distant photo of a strange object – isn't enough for Loch Ness monster fans, Google is also celebrating the Surgeon's Photograph anniversary with a doodle on its UK homepage.