CNN.com - Monster row as Nessie hunt resumes


Hoax or real? The hunt is on to find and catch the Loch Ness Monster

LOCH NESS, Scotland -- The latest attempt to discover conclusive evidence of the existence of the elusive Loch Ness Monster not only wants to find it -- the plan is to catch it.

Swedish monster hunter Jan Sundberg launched his search on Tuesday and revealed he will be using nothing more than a net.

Sundberg, a scientist, has co-ordinated a 12-day mission, called Operation Cleansweep, to try to track the monster.

His crew will venture on to the loch twice a day during which it will cast a seven-foot net into the water and use a combined multi-beam sonar and acoustic camera in a bid to snare the creature.

If the crew catch Nessie they have an unnamed marine biologist from a UK university on hand to take the DNA sample.

Sundberg said: "I am pretty sure there is something out there and I am convinced we have the equipment to track it down.

"Nessie is suspected to be a large type of eel and they are very curious creatures. If it, or indeed they, come across our trap they will go in."

The legend of a monster in the dark peaty waters of Britain's largest lake dates back to 565 AD when St Columba, the holy man who brought Christianity to Scotland, spotted a fearsome lake-dwelling beastie.

But the expedition received a setback when a white witch turned up at the launch to prevent the search.

Kevin Carlyon, high priest of the British White Witches, says he is determined to put a stop to the hunt by casting a protective spell over the loch and any monsters lurking in it.

Against the stunning backdrop of Drumnadrochit marina, near Inverness, the two rivals met and exchanged some fiery words.

Carlyon of Hastings, East Sussex, dropped a talisman into the loch in a move he claims will give him the power to protect the waters for life.

But Sundberg, 53, dubbed the witch's move "mumbo jumbo" claiming the Englishman was simply getting in the way of his second search.

He said: "I really don't know what a witch is doing here. It irritates me that he is here today because he is nothing more than an unnecessary nuisance.

"I am trying to be as scientific as possible while he casts mumbo jumbo spells."

Carlyon said: "Nessie is a Scottish legend and if, as I'm 90 percent sure, it is in there, I believe it should be left in peace.

"I don't want to see marine life harmed and the spells I have cast today will grant me the power of positive thoughts to protect everything in there."

Gary Campbell, president of the official Loch Ness Monster Fan Club said a number of locals were also against the six-man expedition.

He added: "They pay no attention to the laws and have no chance of catching Nessie with that stupid net.

"Have they never seen Jaws? That net couldn't trap a fish."

Sundberg is not new to the hunt for the Loch Ness Monster.

He headed a team of international monster hunters last October.

Two months earlier, he used his net technique in a Norwegian lake in an attempt to net "Selma," a fabled serpent reputed to be a distant cousin of Nessie.

A veteran of 25 years scouring murky waters across the world, Sundberg has banned the word "monster" -- he favours "unknown animal."

CNN.com - Monster row as Nessie hunt resumes

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