The iconic Surgeon's Photograph, supposedly depicting the head of the Loch Ness Monster, made waves 81 years ago — but it turned out to be a fake.
The legend of the Loch Ness Monster, however, didn't die when the image was debunked. Indeed, Nessie is now more relevant than ever, with a feature on Google's most recent "doodle" and a special Google Maps event allowing users to look for the mysterious beast from the comfort of their own computers.
"In 1934, the "Surgeon's Photograph" was released, claiming to show the monster in the misty waters of the lake. It's the most iconic photo in the history of Loch Ness — and may be one of the most elaborate hoaxes of our age," Google said in a blog post on April 21. "Today, to celebrate the anniversary of its release, we're bringing 360-degree Street View imagery of Loch Ness to Google Maps, so you can go in search of Nessie yourself."
Google has even been able to take a photo of what appears to be an object floating out on the lake. Of course it could simply be a log, but it could also be something else... a monster, maybe?
Loch Ness itself is certainly big enough to house such a monster. It stretches a huge 23 miles near Inverness, Scotland. Not only that, but it also reaches 800 feet deep, making it the largest loch in Scotland by volume.
The Surgeon's Photograph might have sparked some interest in the rumored monster, but the legend of Nessie didn't really take off until a few years later, with the opening of a road that ran along the loch. One sighting was reported by George Spicer, followed by another sighting by Arthur Grant, both in 1933.
Shortly after that, a blurry photo claiming to show the monster was released by Hugh Grey. Critics responded that the photo is of Grey's dog swimming toward the camera with a stick in its mouth.
Some suggest that the monster is a plesiosaurus, a marine dinosaur that lived around 205 million years ago.
As of writing, there are more searches on Google for Loch Ness than there are for any other institutions in the U.K., including the likes of the Buckingham Palace.
Through Google Maps, users can explore the loch and look around, keeping an eye out in case the monster itself appears. Users can even look down into the depths of the water.
"You can imagine Nessie nestling within these dark, peat-filled waters, waiting for the right moment to breach the surface into the Scottish sunlight above," Google mused in the post.
