LONDON -- An autonomous underwater vehicle is being used as part of the most technologically advanced study of Loch Ness, the freshwater lake in Scotland synonymous with the monster of the same name.
The robot or underwater drone is part of "Operation Groundtruth," which is using sonar imaging to map the depths of the lake, which has steep slopes that have been difficult to study in the past.
So far, the study, supported by Scotland's national tourism body, has debunked the existence of a so-called unexplored crevice or trench on the floor of the lake, which Loch Ness Monster enthusiasts had dubbed "Nessie's lair."
"Sadly the trench is not there," leader of the Loch Ness Project, Adrian Shine, told Sky News. "So the Nessie's lair... does not exist."
However, the team has made one discovery -- a 30 foot model of the monster, built for the 1970 film The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes.
The film prop was built with a neck and two humps, however, director Billy Wilder didn't want the humps and asked for their removal. That decision affected the prop's buoyancy and the Nessie model sank, according to BBC News.
Images from the underwater drone showed the model in Loch Ness.
The survey, being operated by Norwegian company Kongsberg Maritime, is taking place over two weeks.
"We are excited to see the findings from this in-depth survey by Kongsberg, but no matter how state-of-the-art the equipment is, and no matter what it may reveal, there will always be a sense of mystery and the unknown around what really lies beneath Loch Ness," says VisitScotland's Chief Executive Malcom Roughead.
Earlier this year, a local boat captain claimed he captured a sonar image of what appeared to be a long object with a hump lying on the floor of the lake.
The myth lives on and the tourists keep visiting.
UPDATE: April 13, 2016, 3:45 p.m. BST Added pics of the model.
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