Monster hunting camera restored

Historic underwater camera repaired by experts from The Repair Shop after spending more than half a century on the loch bed

A rare and historic Loch Ness Monster hunting artefact is set to be restored to working order after specialists from ‘The Repair Shop’ stepped in to repair a vintage underwater camera that spent more than 50 years submerged in the depths of Loch Ness.

The 1970s camera, believed to be one of the earliest purpose-built attempts to photograph the elusive Loch Ness Monster, was originally deployed in 1970 by Professor Roy Mackal of the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau. It was unexpectedly rediscovered during underwater trials in the loch by a robotic vehicle operated by the UK’s National Oceanography Centre.

Found more than 130 metres below the surface, the camera had remained underwater for 56 years yet was remarkably well preserved inside its original waterproof housing. While the film was successfully developed after recovery, the camera mechanism itself was no longer operational.

Following its transfer into the care of the Loch Ness Centre, the historic device has now been taken on by experts from The Repair Shop, who carried out the delicate restoration work needed to return the camera to full working condition for the first time in decades.

The ingenious camera trap features a clockwork Instamatic camera fitted with an inbuilt flash cube, designed to capture images when a bait line was disturbed. Of the six cameras deployed in the loch by Professor Mackal in 1970, three were lost during a gale later that same year, making this surviving example exceptionally rare.

Adrian Shine, Loch Ness expert and founder of the Loch Ness Project, who helped trace the camera back to Professor Mackal’s original expedition, said: “This camera is a remarkable survivor from a formative period in Loch Ness research. Professor Roy Mackal’s work in the early 1970s represented one of the first serious attempts to apply systematic science and engineering to the mystery of the loch. Being able to trace this camera back to that expedition, and now see it restored to working condition, is extraordinary. It transforms the camera from a static relic into a living piece of investigative history.”

Nagina Ishaq, General Manager of the Loch Ness Centre, added: “This camera is one of many remarkable links to one of the most ambitious and imaginative chapters in the search for the monster that we have in the centre. To see it not only recovered from the depths of Loch Ness, but now carefully restored by the experts at The Repair Shop, is truly special. We’re incredibly proud to be able to bring this artefact back to life and share it with visitors.”

Now restored to its former glory, the camera will go on public display at the Loch Ness Centre in Drumnadrochit, close to where it was originally discovered. The restored artefact forms part of the Centre’s wider exploration of the science, folklore and ingenuity behind decades of research into the world’s most famous loch.

The restoration marks a remarkable new chapter in the camera’s story, from pioneering 1970s monster-hunting experiment, to long-lost relic on the loch bed, and now a fully revived piece of Loch Ness history.

The Loch Ness Centre:

For further information please contact Muckle Media at lochnesscentre@mucklemediagroup.co.uk