By Jennifer Hassan and Adela Suliman
Hundreds of monster hunters equipped with drones and infrared cameras have gathered in the Scottish Highlands with a singular goal: to be the ones to finally find the Loch Ness monster. But it won't be easy.
On Saturday, the rain was lashing and the skies were grey, hampering visibility in the search for the folkloric creature, affectionately known as "Nessie."
The mythical monster, which legend says lives in a freshwater lake in Scotland, has eluded capture, or any definitive proof of existence, since its first recorded sighting in the 6th century.
But trying to find Nessie is an age-old tradition, and the volunteer hunters who showed up Saturday are dedicated - and better equipped than those who came before.
The search for the monster, organised over two days by the local Loch Ness Centre in Inverness, is the biggest in a half-century, and certainly the most high-tech. Some people drove hours to be here, while others flew in from overseas.
"I believe," Isabelle Rambaud, who was on vacation here from the south of France, said of the monster as she stood in the local Loch Ness gift shop. Rambaud and her husband spent part of their Saturday searching for Nessie.
"We did not see Nessie," she said, holding five packets of traditional Scottish shortbread. If she did, Rambaud added, it would "change her life."
The Loch Ness Centre launched the event - which they called "The Quest" - in partnership with Loch Ness Exploration, a research group that studies the lake and other unexplained phenomena.
They put out a call for volunteer hunters "fascinated by the legendary tales of Nessie" and with "a passion for unravelling mysteries and exploring the extraordinary."
The centre was later forced to close online registrations for volunteers "due to an overwhelming surge in demand," according to the website.
The global fascination with Nessie and Inverness brings more than 1 million visitors to the area each year, according to Alan Rawlinson, business development manager at Visit Inverness Loch Ness.
"I'd love to get some answers this weekend," said Paul Nixon, who leads the Loch Ness Centre, adding that the tale of the monster is "one of the greatest unsolved mysteries that exists."
These are not just people "with binoculars and a tub of sandwiches," he said. "If we did find it," he added, it would be "a global sensation."
Indeed, some hunters with drones are equipping them with infrared cameras to seek out heat spots in the lake - as well as sending them underwater.
They've also come armed with a hydrophone to pick up acoustic signals 60 feet below the loch's surface - although nobody really knows what the monster would sound like.
Other participants can join several surface-watch locations staged by organisers or cruise the 23-mile-long lake by boat.
They have been asked to document everything they see - from surface movements to weather changes - and are getting lessons on how to capture potential sightings on their phones.
For those who aren't here in person, a live stream of the hunt is available online. Nixon said he hopes that the weekend's events inspire a new, younger generation of Nessie hunters.
The centre will also conduct a "sentiment test" to gauge whether sceptics have turned into believers or if people's opinions on the monster's existence have changed.
Interest in cryptids, which are animals whose existence is unproven, such as Bigfoot or Sasquatch, has persisted for so long because "people's imaginations are fired up," said Michael A. Little, an anthropology professor at Binghamton University in New York.
The frequent portrayals of fantastical creatures such as Nessie in movies and on television also perpetuate the myths, he added.
"People really believe it and spend enormous amounts of time and energy searching," he said. "But there's no evidence."