Great Lakes Monsters

 

An article caught my eye:

Extracts :Operated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the 180-foot Lake Guardian is the largest research vessel on the Great Lakes.When the ice melts each spring, the ship visits each of the five lakes to measure basic water quality and sample the “lower food web” -- the tiny animals, plants, and algae that support fish and other aquatic life.

The Lake Guardian hits Lake Michigan first in early April, then heads east to Huron and Erie before visiting Ontario. Lake Superior, where the ship was headed on Tuesday, is the last stop because the ice there tends to linger longer.It will be months before the data collected they collected on Lake Ontario will be analyzed, but Scofield, a Texas native who earned a doctorate degree from Cornell University three years ago, said it appears water quality and nutrient loads in the lake are relatively stable -- at least compared to the past.

By the 1960s, human interaction with Lake Ontario had changed it for the worse. Wanton discharges of sewage and man-made fertilizers, not to mention toxic chemicals, had degraded water quality.The water was choked with aquatic plants and algae, including the species that that washes up on the shore and fouls beaches was everywhere. The lake was a pit.Concerted efforts in the United States and Canada in the 1970s reduced the pollutants being dumped in the lake, and water quality rebounded. Rotting algae became rare along the shoreline.

Then, beginning in the late 1980s, oceangoing freighters inadvertently brought zebra and quagga mussels to the Great Lakes from waterways in the former Soviet Union.With none of their natural predators to keep them in check, the small molluscs spread uncontrolled. They feed by filtered tiny phytoplankton (aquatic plants) and algae out of the water, and were so numerous they dramatically improved water clarity.This might be considered a good thing, except that in so doing they deprived native species of that food source.

Source:https://www.wxxinews.org/post/aboard-lake-guardian-scientists-fish-story-lake-ontario

What does all this pollution and none native species invasion mean for the so called monsters resident in the lakes? Are they still alive or have they been killed off by pollution? Lack of recent sightings may indicate the worse.Read about them below.

 

Lake Ontario Monster :

https://cryptozoo-oscity.blogspot.com/2011/10/new-sighting-of-gaasyendietha.html

Lake Michigan and Lake Huron Monsters:

https://cryptozoo-oscity.blogspot.com/2020/07/will-scientists-find-great-lakes-serpent.html

Lake Erie Monster:

https://cryptozoo-oscity.blogspot.com/2011/06/what-will-south-bay-bessie-make-of.html

Lake Superior Monster:

http://cryptozoo-oscity.blogspot.com/2009/07/pressie-lake-superior-serpent.html

The Search for the Water Horse of Lake Champlain

 Water Horse of Lake Champlain - the search  by Katy Elizabeth

A newly published book that I read in one sitting.

The book has three main themes to it. One is how Katy Elizabeth got involved with the hunt for Champ and her subsequent experiences. Two is candidates for Champ and conclusions from that. Three is the history of the search brought up to date with recent sightings and sonar traces.

It is written in an easy style to read and shows extensive background research .Good clear illustrations and photos.This is definitely one every cryptozoologist should have on their shelves. I finished the book feeling optimistic about the future of champ research . 

Water Dragon of Lake Storsjön

 

Lake Storsjön Dragon

Lake Storsjön in Sweden is another lake that was brought into being during the ice age. It is about 300 feet (100 metres)deep. Stories of a monster called Storsjöodjuret have persisted for 400 years.It is a water dragon according to myth, is a terrifying creature with serpentine or reptilian features .There are said to be 200 documented witness reports from 500 people who have seen Storsjöodjuret. It is described as serpentine and humped with large eyes. Many more have spoken about their experiences, but haven´t submitted a written testimony.

In 1635, Mogens Pedersen from Herdal, wrote down the legend about two trolls who were boiling a mixture in a large kettle on the shore of the lake. When they had boiled the mixture for years and years, the contents of the kettle began to groan and wail and there was a loud bang. "A strange animal with a black serpentlike body and a cat-like head jumped out of the kettle and disappeared into the lake. The monster enjoyed living in the lake, it grew unbelievably large and terrorised the people living on the shores of the lake. After some time it extended all the way around the island Frösön, and could bite its own tail."

In an 1878 sighting, a local mechanic reportedly saw something craning its neck past the water's surface. He described it as having a "snake-like head that was larger than what I figured the neck could support."

Then on October 31st, 1898 there was a report in the local paper, Jämtlandsposten ,about M.P. Jöns Bromée´s experience outside Billsta, Hackås in 1863: "...there was a large ugly monster in the lake and we decided to pursue it. Two shotguns were loaded and two boats equipped in haste. Meanwhile the monster had slipped away from the shore, into the water, and began to move slowly away. At that point, it resembled 10 or 12 shiny black anchors linked together and following each other..."

In 1920 Per Jönsson from Andersön said he seen Storsjöodjuret three times. In a recorded interview from 1960 he tells of an encounter outside Digernäs in 1920: "...I saw that big grey-green body between the waves. The water boiled around me. I saw that its tail was moving with powerful strokes. After a hundred metres or so it disappeared without a trace. A few days later they saw it from the peninsula Rödön. It must have gone off that way..."

IN July 1931 Storsjöodjuret appeared at Myrviken in front of Anders Bergqvist and Jonas Hansson. The County Prosecutor, Mr. Carlsson, was asked by the County Authorities to make a more detailed investigation of which part of the report read:"Mr. Hansson had observed a large object on the surface of the water. The object consisted of a globelike form, the upper part of which was above the water. The height of this object above the water was about 10 centimetres, possibly a bit more. Behind the globe there was a bow-shaped hump..."

In 1947 in Jämtlands tidning (another local newspaper), Anna Rahm told of her experienced at Åssjön outside Rösta: "The monster was 3 metres long and grey like an elephant with a smooth, hard skin. Its head was as big as a jug and its back was dented in places. In its terrifying and wide mouth its tongue moved up and down in a threatening manner; its eyes rolled, as I've said and its ears were large and stood out. It seemed to have a large, powerful tail. We only saw the upper part of it but its back was wide and it wasn't a serpent as has been said earlier. That I'm sure..."

In 1972 a sighting was reported by two Swedish military airmen on holiday

Fisheries officer Ragnar Björks, 73, was out checking fishing permits on Sweden’s Lake Storsjön when he had the fright of his life. A huge tail suddenly broke the surface near Björk’s 12 foot (4 metres) row boat. The creature attached to the tail appeared to be 18 feet (6 metres) long, grey-brown on top with a yellow underbelly. When Björks was alongside the monster, he struck at it with his oar, hitting it on the back. The creature then slapped the water with its tail and the rowboat was thrown nine (3 metres)to twelve feet(4 metres)into the air. ‘At first I didn’t believe that there was any monster in the Storsjön…but now I am convinced.'”

Then On the 10th of August 1983 Carina Johnson went out in the Bay of Brunflo in a boat . She reports:"Suddenly I saw something that looked like birds about to take off, far out into the lake. They looked like three white gulls moving towards Östersund at an incredible speed...as we came closer it changed direction away from us and then suddenly the water became still and calm. I had a feeling that the thing was relatively large, and what struck me afterwards was that it moved so fast."

In 1994 a young man and his father on a canoe trip witnessed something strange "...Suddenly I saw something like a plough in the water. The water "divided" as when you go water-skiing. It went on for about 10-15 seconds..."

More recently in August 2008 A Swedish documentary film crew claimed to have caught the monster on film. https://www.thelocal.se/20080828/13980/

At the museum Jamtli in Östersund In the Storsjöodjurs exhibition there are, among other things, the giant iron trap that was once used to attempt to catch the Storsjöodjur. The trap was then baited with a pig, with no success.

The stories of the creature have been around a long time . The description sounds once again like a giant eel and would explain the cat like or even dog like  head some people describe. The film as usual is not clear and is no doubt disputed evidence by some. It is one more glacial lake from the ice age with a large creature being reported.

 

Lake Monsters of Kentucky

 

Kentucky is a place we often associate with Bigfoot sightings but it has its share of lake monsters .

Lake Herrington

Herrington Lake is an artificial lake located in Mercer, Garrard and Boyle counties in Kentucky, United States. It has a  maximum depth of 249 feet (76 m), Herrington Lake is the deepest lake in Kentucky. The Herrington Lake Monster is said to look like a mix between a pig and a serpent and moves very fast. Described as   12-15 feet ( 4 to 5 metres) long with a body like that of an eel and a skin tone/pattern reminiscent of a speckled fish with  a stubby pig-like snout .Sightings of the Eel-Pig have been reported since the 1920’s,but  the sighting in 1972 by a University of Kentucky professor  Lawrence S. Thompson, who owned a lake home on Herrington, made it taken more seriously. He said he had seen the Eel-Pig swimming around the area on several occasions. Some people claim that during the flooding of the Dix River, Kentucky Utilities  opened up a passageway to a series of underground limestone caves in which this species of Eel-Pig lived and released it into the lake. The monster then became trapped in Lake Herrington after Dix Dam was built.

It is possible that a type of eel lives in the water with an unusual shaped head.

Lake Linville

 Lake Linville is another  man-made lake created in 1968 by the construction of the earthen Renfro Dam. It  has   a maximum depth of 36 feet (12 metres) .There have been various stories about something in the lake but  in September 2008 a warning was posted telling people to stay away from the  Lake.  The story said a bluish green snake-like creature with a long neck and a long tail and a head the size of a basketball attacked his canoe, breaking it in half and leaving him for dead in the water.  Others then came forward with their stories including this one from a lady,that happened when she was young.She said her and her family had seen men with guns unloading crates from a helicopter containing large snail like creatures into the lake.

So hoax or real, certainly some strangeness around Lake Linville.

Lake Calk

Sid Calk Lake, located in the Mount  Sterling area, is a private fishing lake which came to the people’s attention in 1967.

Three men   were night fishing when their boat got caught on something.One of the men jumped out to untangle it.  He thought he was standing on a log,then it moved. It  coiled up, splashed around and swam away  The men said it was a snake or snake-like creature as big as a telephone pole.

Several days later another fisherman was reeling  in his catch when a snake with a head as large as a trashcan snatched it off his line and swam away with it. Llater that summer a young boy spotted the creature, describing it as being 'long as a house,' and as 'big around as a man.' 

Since then there have been few reports. A giant eel perhaps? Maybe someone will get a photo in the future.