A Lake
Erie swamp monster? Alligator sighting begs question: What else is Lake Erie
hiding
With a fisherman catching an unusual salmon in Lake
Erie and a group of people reporting an alligator on the Great Lake, you may be
wondering what else has been hanging around this 210-foot deep waterway.
On July 28, Colton Alex of Erie caught a 10.4 pound
Atlantic salmon that is believed to have been stocked hundreds of miles away in
Lake Huron. On Aug. 4, people believe they saw an alligator swimming near East
Avenue. As of Friday, the reptile has not been captured.
However, it’s not the first time an alligator was
released in Erie.
“We caught a 3-foot long alligator at the mouth of
Elk Creek,” said Capt. Jim Smolko of the Northwest Region of the Pennsylvania
Fish and Boat Commission. Smolko believes it happened about a dozen or so years
ago. It was in late September or early October and was spotted near the access
area in a pile of trees. “The water was getting cold. If somebody didn’t catch
it, it was probably going to end up dying.”
The reptile was caught and given to someone in North
East Township who could care for it.
Read the rest of the story of strange things in the
Lake here :
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 soner reading graph 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.
There are some more recent sightings I believe but
the explanation given is that it is a sturgeon. I have never seen a sturgeon
undulate so it has humps .Perhaps it is a giant eel or water snake? Whatever
people are seeing it should be investigated.
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