Explore Loch Ness with Google Maps

I'll happily admit that I've always been fascinated by Loch Ness in Scotland, and by extension, the fabled Loch Ness Monster (or Nessie, if you crave familiarity).

As a matter of fact, a visit and tour of Loch Ness is one of the items populating my bucket list. But, since time and/or finances just don't allow for that right now, this may be the next best thing. Thanks to technology.

From Fox News:

How about a Nessie adventure from the comfort of your own couch? Yes, thanks to Google's globetrotting Street View team (who else?), sofa-loafers can now explore Loch Ness at their leisure, all the while keeping an eye out for a creature that's had folks around the world arguing over its existence (or not) for hundreds of years.

 

Ah...the comfort of the couch. Tell me more.

The imagery takes in not only the surface of the lake, but also its more mysterious murky depths (very murky, according to the photos). The underwater content was provided by the Catlin Seaview Survey, which has helped Street View on other projects, including its collection of content for Australia's Great Barrier Reef back in 2012. To grab its above-water shots, Google plunked its multi-lens camera on a boat before motoring up and down the lake a few times.

 

The launch of the new imagery celebrates the anniversary of the release of the famous ' Surgeon's Photograph' snapped in 1934, which appears to show Nessie poking his head out of the lake's misty waters.

 

If you're in a hurry, this might not be for you.

If you fancy trying to track down Nessie via Street View, keep in mind that the lake is some 23 miles long, and around 800 feet deep. With that much water sloshing around, the monster will surely have had plenty of chances to steer clear of Google's prying cameras. However, look long enough and hard enough and you may well spot a mysterious creature (a fuzzy-looking one, most likely) that over the years has spawned books, movies, and TV shows, and continues to draw crowds of fascinated tourists from around the world.