A scientist from New Zealand may have a way to prove that the Loch Ness Monster is real.
Neil Gemmell is leading a team that will start testing the body of water for genetic material left behind by the animals that live in the ecosystem, the BBC reported.
His team will be at the site in a few weeks, working to collect small pieces of skin and scales from the lake.
While Gemmell himself doesn't believe in Nessie's existence, he said there could be creatures that still haven't been discovered, the BBC reported.
"There's absolutely no doubt that we will find new stuff. And that's very exciting," Gemmell told the BBC.
“While the prospect of looking for evidence of the Loch Ness monster is the hook to this project, there is an extraordinary amount of new knowledge that we will gain from the work about organisms that inhabit Loch Ness - the UK’s largest freshwater body,” Gemmell explained.
The technique is called eDNA and has been used for tracking marine life, Reuters reported.
The myth of Nessie dates back to the 6th century when Irish monk St. Columba banished a "water beast" to the River Ness, Reuters reported. In 1934, the famous photo dubbed the "surgeon's photo" was taken. The photo was found to be a hoax six decades later when it was discovered that the creature was, in fact, a toy submarine with a sea monster model attacked.
In 2003, the BBC financed a research project that mapped the entire lake using 600 sonar beams, Reuters reported.
The results of the latest study are expected to be released in January.
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