Lake Simcoe monster,Igopogo

Sometimes called "The Other Great Lake', Lake Simcoe, forty miles north of Toronto Canada, has an area of nearly 300 square miles . Local legend has it that Lake Simcoe's Kempenfelt Bay (with a depth of 136') is the home of an unidentified 'Monster', known as 'Kempenfelt Kelly', or Igopogo. Residents of Beaverton, on the eastern shore, call it Beaverton Bessie, Witnesses describe the creature as having a stove-pipe neck with a head resembling that of a dog and with a dog like face . It seems to be estimated to be on average 12 feet long.

The indigenous people of the area, The Huron, believed a monster inhabited Lake Simcoe. Their name for it was Mishepeshu which uttered in hushed tones. They believed Mishepeshu to be an angry and murderous spirit, a creature willing to feast on human flesh if sufficiently riled. The creature , they said, had a dog-like head topped by curved horns, a long serpentine body and a slender tail.

The first written description appears to be in 1827, when David Soules saw a creature from shore: “It was a huge long thing that went through the water like a streak, having huge fin-like appendages and being very large and very ugly looking.” As suddenly as the creature had appeared, it slipped beneath the water once more and was gone. The whole sighting lasted only seconds, but Mr. Soules never forgot it. Then it was seen again in Oct 1881 and described as 30 feet long with four fins ,and serpent like.

Recorded sightings occurred in1952 and 1963.

"Igopogo, Simcoe Monster, Reported Sighted Again," The Globe and Mail, Mon 1 July 1963, p. 1.

Then in June 1983 W.W. Skrypetz was doing a radar scan at about 3.30pm in the afternoons when it recorded the shape of large serpent like creatures.

In March of 1991, it was seen again and filmed.

"According to the unnamed videographer, while a friend was preparing for a hydroplane race, he suffered a mechanical breakdown and was forced to pause for repairs near the south end of the lake. As the racer lifted the engine hatch in order to assess the damage, a large animal suddenly surfaced directly in front of him - stunning the racer as well as the spectators on the shoreline. The viewers began to panic as the creature slowly lowered its head into the water. It continued to stare at the racer before disappearing completely." http://www.americanmonsters.com

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And this report of the same incident:

Cook’s Bay, 1991. It was a beautiful summer’s day and the waters of the lake were crystalline and placid. A cameraman was on shore videotaping his friend as he raced his boat across the bay. Suddenly, the craft broke down. While the boater began repairs, something quietly surfaced mere metres away. At first, the creature rose out of the water on a long neck, then it slowly sunk back into the water and peered upward at the boater with only the top of its head visible above the surface. A few moments later, it submerged and did not return.

In August 2005, supported by Discovery Canada television's science program "Daily Planet," and by the tourism department of the city of Barrie, investigators went in search of the creature and tried to provide explanations for the sightings. Locals however are not convinced there is a rational explanation except that there is something strange in Lake Simcoe.

The sightings do not occur as frequently as of other lake creatures and it does seem more elusive , so evidence is limited. Maybe new technology may throw some light on the creature and someone will fund some research to do it.