new sighting of Cowichan Lake Serpent

Cowichan Lake Serpent

Cowichan is situated beside the Cowichan River and is the second largest lake on Vancouver Island, measuring   34 km long  and in places over 500 feet ( 166 metres)deep.

The people of Cowichan have a  history of stories of a giant serpent-like creature that lives in the deepest parts of the lake. It is said  to be over 50 feet( 16 metres) in length, with a very large head, furious eyes and an enormous mouth and teeth. The creature named Stin-Qua is said to be capable of swallowing whole  canoes and their contents.. The first story I came across is from the Kaatza Station Museum and is by  Nitinat Charlie:

here was an Indian encampment near where the March’s now live. In the camp was a very old woman who cautioned the young women to beware of the Stin-qua. Next morning three young men and three women set out in a canoe for Bald Mountain across the Lake. The men were left on the mountain to hunt deer and the women were to return for them later. The women were returning to the camp when one of the maidens stoop up in the canoe and, waiving her paddle said that she was not afraid of the Stin-qua. Almost immediately it began to get dark, the wind roared and the Stin-qua rushed through the water and swallowed the canoe and all the women. The Stin-qua disappears from the lake by an underground passage down the West Coast.

At the time it was thought to be just a legend but then reports started to appear.

The following report appeared in the Cowichan Leader newspaper on Thursday, June 12,1930: ( extracts from the report) Is there a giant water serpent in Cowichan Lake similar to the reputed Okanogan Lake Ogopogo? There are of course, many doubters, but the mass of evidence from reliable sources has grown to such an extent that there would appear little question about there being one or more large serpents in the waters of the lake. Some time ago The Leader gathered information from various people who had seen this unusual fish and without exceptions the witnesses are most emphatic that this thing actually exists. They are anxious, also to come across it again and photograph or capture it so as to have proof of the “fish story” A new interest has been aroused in this strange reptile by the report from Mr. C. E. Cauldwell (Cougar Charlie) that last week he saw the serpent.Mr. Cauldwell and Mr. Fred Fillinger, planer foreman of the Industrial Mill, Youbou, were together at the time on the shore at the head of the lake. The serpent was distinctly seen swimming Interested in the fishing, nothing more unusual was noticed until Mr. Jarvis, looking around saw about eight feet of tapering neck and a serpent like heard standing straight out of the water.He called to Dr. Hill to look at the “apparition” and at the same time reached for his gun.

Read rest here: http://cryptozoo-oscity.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/cowichan-lake-serpent.html?showComment=1349675446205#c8677049598259871980

Today this comment appeared:

Anonymous said...

Hi there,
My son and I saw this today at Lake Cowichan. I did take some video, but it doesn’t show much as I was fumbling around too long trying to set the camera to video from photo…by the time I had it on the body was under water again. Stin-Qua, The Lake Cowichan Serpent, I saw this Lake creature today with my son while fishing from the shore. I have in the past noticed disturbances in the water which seemed odd, but have always chalked it up to minor tremors or wind, which both are common here. Today though I actually saw an object moving in the water. It was about 10:45 am or so on Sunday October 7th, 2012. My son and I had been fishing with friends who had just left to go back to the house for breakfast. We were planning to return shortly ourselves. A motor boat had just taken a water skier across the lake and had disappeared around the point a few minutes prior to the sighting. I noticed a disturbance in the middle of the lake and a large dark object surfaced, it began to move east to west at a fast rate. There was a huge wake behind it and white water at the front and moving away from the front leaving a large wake. I yelled at my son to look, he had already seen it from his position on the beach(actually a small dock). I fumbled for my camera and tried to change the setting from photo to video and began shooting. Unfortunately, I did not catch much more than the wake and my own voice… Very disappointing. I was in shock afterwards as I could not rationalize what it could have been. It was very large and although 500m or so away I could make out it was an animal and alive. It was not a log or bird. Searching on the internet I found a name for the creature, Stin-Qua, so named by the local natives. I found this site and am grateful for two things, one my son saw it with me and two others have seen it too. I will be ready the next time… Something is out there.

Regards,

Randy Stewart

So what do you think readers?