Reports of a ‘Devil’ in Siberia’s Lake Labynkyr date from the 19th century, and have intrigued scientists for many decades. The inaccessible lake, in the Sakha Republic, Russia’s largest and coldest region, was in March the scene of the deepest-ever dive under ice in the world. Divers on a joint expedition by the Russian Geographic Society and Diving Sport Federation of Russia reached a depth of 59.6 metres, but their achievement also had a serious scientific purpose. Braving air temperatures as low as minus 50C, and diving under tents erected on the ice, they took samples for examination by scientists which may prove a long-suspected underwater link between the Labynkyr and another similarly mysterious lake, Vorota, some 30km away. The divers were keenly aware of the age-old accounts of primeval monsters – perhaps relic ichthyosaurs – in both lakes. Ahead of the trip, the society said: ‘Apart from plans to set up a new record for under-ice diving and to perform scientific research, the participants of the expedition want to check those legends about ‘Labynkyrsky Chert’ – the Labynkyr Devil…

read more: Meet the creature found by divers in Russia’s Loch Ness, famed for legends of monsters.