The man behind May 2007′s video is returning to Loch Ness. Gordon Holmes is going to experiment with new technology to try to capture Nessie, at least with a camera.

Holmes has emailed me with the breaking news he is going back to Loch Ness this year with “NET –> NESSIE 2008.”

He writes it will be the…

…’smallest’ ever attempt to obtain proof of any large unknown Creature swimming in Loch Ness. Basically, it is a radio-controlled boat with sonar and a wireless-linked CCTV camera monitoring the sonar screen. The idea is, I stand on the shore obtaining video footage on my laptop from the camera inside the boat. As you will appreciate, this is cutting edge science so there is no guarantee the gear will operate when required.Gordon Holmes, February 6, 2008.

The cryptogadget has been christened the “St. Columba.”

On August 22 in AD 565, at the River Ness, St. Columba came across a group of Picts who were burying a man killed by an unknown creature that today is linked to the Loch Ness Monster. Art by Bill Rebsamen.

Below is the CNN report on Holmes’ earlier video. This is the media report that stimulated these two quotations:

Jerry Clark noted that what was operating here, in counterpoint to my view, was, The Nickell principle: “We will take up an existence by its otters.”

Coincidentially, another friend and coauthor, Patrick Huyghe emailed me: “Joe was otterly ridiculous.”

Please refer to “The Nessie Story,” in The Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep, for more historical details.