Lake Somin Creature

Lake Somin Monster

A huge monster with the head of a serpent and the body of a crocodile is rumoured to lurk at the bottom of  Lake Somin  in Western Ukraine. Now and again the gruesome creature comes ashore and attacks domestic animals .The hideous monster is also said to moan and wheeze at night. Lake Somin is located in Polessie lowlands, which formed at the bottom of an ancient freshwater sea. About 300 lakes scattered around the area are the remainders of the sea. Those  lakes interconnect by means of underground passages and rivers.Lake Somin is 56 meters deep. A number of caves lie at its bottom.

It is believed that the first stories about the monster hiding in Lake Somin near the village of Lukiv appeared at the turn of the 19^th century. The reference to the monster can be found in a report sent by a village chairman to Warsaw. He wrote that the villagers had not paid a tax on fishing because of a “serpent” which lived in the lake, eating the fishes. The unknown predator also harassed the livestock and locals, said the letter. 

The local elderly say that the “lizard” was last seen on the lake shore some 30 years ago.

“The monster assaulted Stepan, a groom. He was tending horses near the lake on that day. Actually, Stepan had too much of a drink so he stretched himself out on the grass and fell asleep. A crocodile-like creature crept on to the bank out of the water, moved up to the guy, and sniffed at him. Mushroom pickers came from the wood at the very moment. They saw that thing and started shouting out loud to scare it off. The monster reportedly opened its month and there wasn’t a single tooth inside,” said the 84-year-old Ivan Kovalchuk, a resident of the village.”

Other scientists claim that the creature could be a prehistoric  freshwater shark which somehow survived the Ice Age. “The archeological finds discovered in the area can back up this version. There’re many reports on fossilized teeth and bones of ancient fishes dug out by locals in their gardens,” said Valentin Volontai, an adviser with the Institute of Archeology under the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences.

See more at http://www.pravdareport.com/science/mysteries/25-06-2007/93964-monster-0/

It is possible this could be another giant cat fish but a freshwater shark is more interesting.

A monster in River Obra?

The River  Obra Monster  The River Obra is an offshoot of the River Warta, in Poland.  Local folklore  says that in the northern part of the river, close to Bledzewand lives a giant fish  or  a giant snake-like creature.  Some witnesses report seeing ducks, swans and even small dogs being  attacked and dragged  underwater by some powerful unseen predator.   Others say they have  witnessed a giant snake trying to upset boats on one  of the lakes in the area of the river Obra . Some think  that this snakelike monster is  a giant cat fish. In other European  countries the catfish has been reported to attack dogs and water birds .  Whether this is a giant fish  or something more unusual remains to be discovered .  Stories continue to be  reported of a giant water dwelling creature, which hunts after   dusk along the River  Obra. A cat fish seems the most likely culprit but until it is caught the jury is out.

Another strange creature in Lake Erie.

Lake Erie is the southern edge of habitat for burbot (pronounced bur’-bit here), a big, eel-like, mottled-patterned fish that hangs out on the bottom of the lake. It’s the only freshwater member of the cod family.

“They’re such a weird, secretive fish, said Cleveland Metroparks aquatic biologist Mike Durkalec. “What it takes to catch them, they’re just aren’t a lot of people out there doing that.”

What it takes to catch a burbot is to fish at dark, in the dead of winter.The record burbot in Ohio was December 20, 1999, caught off Fairport Harbor. It was 37 inches long and 17.3 pounds. The record was broken twice in a week

read rest here:https://www.cleveland.com/news/2019/01/lake-erie-burbot.html

There is said to be  another resident of \lake Erie, a lake monster called South Bay Bessie. Lake Erie is 241 miles long( approx 389kms) and 57 miles(approx 90kms) at its widest point.It is shallow compared to other great lakes but is said to be over 200 feet(over 65 metres) at its deepest.

The lake creature, now known as Bessie, was first reported in 1817 when the crew of a schooner reported seeing a large serpent like creature swimming in the lake. On July 8th, 1898, the Daily Register Newspaper, of Ohio reported that the lake monster was able to live on both land and in water and  was a fierce, ugly, coiling creature between 25(8 metres) and 30 feet long ( 10 metres)and at least 12 inches thick( .3 metres).

It became a bit of joke in 1912 when some hoaxers tried to pass off an exotic snake as the creature. Then more sightings began to be reported.

In 1960, Ken Golic was fishing off a pier in Sandusky when he heard what he thought were  rats. He decided to throw a couple of rocks at them but then when he got close he saw a cigar shaped creature.
In 1969, Jim Schindler was startled by a snake like creature came near South Bass Island. He said it appeared to be about 2 feet ( .6 metre)wide.
In September 1981, Theresa Kovach of Akron watched a snake like creature  from a house on the shore.She said  that "was so large that it could easily capsized a boat."
In 1983, Mary M. Landoll saw Bessie off Rye Beach in Huron. Mary was out to the front porch just before dawn when from the lake she heard a rowing sound and saw what looked like a capsized boat, but realised it was animate. It was a greenish-brown and about 50 feet

(18metres) long .It had a long neck and an eye was visible on the side of the head .
In 1985,there were two reported sightings . Tony Schill of Avon, Ohio was boating with friends north of Vermilion when they saw a dark brown snake like creature with a flat tail. Tony stated that "five humps came out of the water. No way it was a sturgeon." .In 1985, Dale Munro of Lorain was also boating when he saw something strange. He stated that it had three humps and was black.
In 1989, Gail Kasner had a sonar reading,a graph, from a boat owned by Ken Smith of Streetsboro. It appeared to show cigar shape object about 35 feet (11 metres)in length at a depth of about 30 feet.(10 metres)
Then there were several sightings in 1990 including:
Susan Seeson, of Salem saw a  creature two miles from Cedar Point. In September , Bob Soracco was jet skiing when he saw something.. He told reporters that he saw humps with gray spots. "It was very long as I moved closer and it was going down.". In the same month, Harold Bricker and his family were fishing north of Cedar Point Amusement Park when a creature swam by their boat .They described it as being 35 feet (11 metres)long and having  a snake like head. It moved as fast as their boat. Also in  September  Fire inspectors, Jim Johnson and Steve Dircks of Huron, saw the creature from a window facing Lake Erie. They described it as  black at about 30 feet( 10 metres) long.
In September 1991, Dennis Szececinski,was fishing in the bay when something long and black slithered in front of him. Also in in 1991, George Repicz shot  some video footage which he claimed showed Bessie.
In the summer of 1998, Leslee Rasgaitis reported seeing 3 black humps moving in the water of the shore of Huntington Beach, Ohio.

Could a super sized Burbot be an explanation for some of the sightings? Burbot are rare these days and probably not known by many people. Or maybe Bessie ate all the butbot hence their scarcity.

Eye witness reports of Orkney sea monsters

For some eye witness reports on sea monsters have a read of this :
http://www.orkneyjar.com/folklore/seabeasts2.htm

Loch Quoich creature

Loch Quoich(Gaelic Loch Cuaich) is about 24 miles northwest of Fort William in Scotland. With Loch Garry it forms part of the Glen Garry hydroelectric project from the 1950s which was completed in 1962.The dam built on Loch Quoich is the largest rock fill dam in Scotland at 960 feet( 310 metres) long and 114 feet ( 35 metres) high. The dam flooded some of the old settlements in the area, including Glen Quoich Lodge. A single-track road goes along the loch shore to Kinloch. The fishing there is by boat only and it is mainly for brown trout and Char.

The loch is said to be home for a water monster described as a large serpent like creature with a horse like head. It is typical description for a Kelpie or water horse.

The Duke of Portland related that after becoming tenant of the salmon angling in Loch Quoich was told by the forester, hotel keeper and fishing ghillies of a beast . I think this was in the late 1800s, but have been unable to find and exact date.

In Peter Costello,s book “In Search of Lake Monsters” (1975 ed Granada Publishing ltd page 153) , is the following story. I have paraphrased it.

A certain lord, not named, ( n.b.I wonder if this was also the Duke of Portland?) used to fish in Loch Quoich and one day whilst fishing there, he saw a monster lying on the shore close to the water. He swore the two ghillies with him to secrecy in case people thought they were drunk. A fishing party is said to have seen the monster swimming under the water the same time period (no date given).

In the Northern Chronicle newspaper in 1933 there were reported some stories about the Loch Quoich creature but there were not substantiated , so could have simply been rumours after the reports in 1933 of the Loch Ness creature.

The Loch is quite isolated and it could be that any reports of anything seen in the loch were hushed up by the local dignitaries. It could just be the usual folktales of the Kelpie. There doesn’t seem to be any historical record of tales about a kelpie though. If anyone knows any more about this isolated Loch please post.

Nessie seen more often in 2018

 Nessie: Record year for sightings of Loch Ness Monster

More people than ever before are reporting sightings of the Loch Ness Monster, official figures show.

Statistics released on Tuesday revealed the legendary monster was spotted by 13 people in 2018, up from 11 in 2017.There have been a total of 1106 sightings of the mythical monster since it was first spotted by St Columba over 1000 years ago.

read list of sightings and see photos here:

https://stv.tv/news/highlands-islands/1433878-nessie-record-year-for-sightings-of-loch-ness-monster/

Note that the number of sightings- 1106, is reported officially sightings. Often people don't report what they see for fear of ridicule.

Latest Nessie Photo

NESSIE FOUND? 

Loch Ness Monster spotter snaps pic of creature with ‘4ft neck and bird-like head the size of a rugby ball

’

Ricky Phillips, 39, says he noticed the strange sight last Thursday and took the pic on his phone

Ricky Phillips, who works as a guide, says he was waiting for his group of tourists to finish their cruise when he noticed the strange sight last Thursday.

The 39-year-old says he was sitting at the River Oich as it flows into Loch Ness at Fort Augustus eating some chips when he heard a weird noise.

Mr Phillips, who writes history books, said: "It was a grey creature - almost bird like - in a grey stretch of water.

"It's neck was three to four feet long, a head the size of a rugby ball and a ridge across its eyes. I was baffled.

read rest,see photo  here :https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8008162/loch-ness-monster-picture-scotland-creature/

It looks like a bird ,what do you think?