#cryptic creature

Contributed by Andrew McKay, Co-Host of Into The Portal Podcast

Editor’s note: the following in an excerpt from Andrew McKay’s unpublished work, CANADIAN CRYPTIDS

OGOPOGO (OKANAGAN LAKE, BC)

Ogopogo: A giant serpent-like creature inhabiting Lake Okanagan British Columbia. 10 to 60 feet long and 1-4 feet wide, a head like a horse, smooth with no fins.

Finishing a close second to Nessie of Loch Ness Scotland for the most famous lake monsters in history, the legendary Ogopogo is said to be a massive serpent of prehistoric proportions, lurking in the depths of one of Canada’s most unique mountain lakes. The origins of the Ogopogo can be traced to the indigenous Sylix peoples of the Okanagan who, for thousands of years, have known of the creature and held it it high esteem as a spirit of the water, or N’ha-a-itk, which translates to ‘Lake Demon’. That local travellers would make a ritual sacrificial offering to Ogopogo when crossing the lake in return for safe passage arose out of this specific translation, however this is inaccurate, as the Ogopogo has been traditionally viewed by the Indigenous Okanagan people as a benevolent creature. Much like the Sasquatch, Ogopogo is thought of as both a metaphysical spirit of the lake and a very real living breathing animal. The sightings of the lake serpent certainly corroborate this, but could lake Okanagan be home to such a massive creature?

Lake Okanagan is incredibly deep and long for a high elevation mountain lake, stretching 90km in length, 5km in width and possibly as deep as 1000 feet in some locations. Even more interesting, lake Okanagan is what's known as a tectonic rift lake, and beneath the 1000 feet of water is proposed to be at least another 750 feet of loose sediment - a possible hiding place for a large eel-like monster. Some researchers believe that beneath this sediment lies ancient caves or perhaps lava tubes that could be home to the legendary serpent, a deep place to hide and possibly a good place to bear young. Legends persist that the serpents den lies beneath Squally Point and Rattlesnake Island, a small island that very much looks like the massive head of an aquatic monster; located towards the South end of the lake near Peachland BC. But what about the sightings?

The first european reports of the creature came from early 1800’s when Hudson’s Bay fur traders would hear second and third hand accounts of native legends. Every year there are new reports of sightings on the lake from boaters as well as those on shore, however some are much more convincing than others. One of the earliest non-indigenous reports of Ogopogo came in 1873 from a woman named Susan Allison. Allison was the first white settler in the area of the Okanagan and wrote of her experience in her memoirs ‘A Pioneer Gentle Women in BC ‘. According to Allison, her husband had a run in with a massive serpent near what is now Quails Gate Winery in West Kelowna while returning from a fishing trip.

In 1927 of the first reports of multiple creatures surfaced in a newspaper article of the Daily Colonist quoting a Mrs PV. Royal and Mrs WA. Newton who claimed to see multiple juvenile Ogopogo’s travelling in the Water near the shores of Downtown Kelowna. However one of the most compelling sightings of the 1920s occurred on Mission Beach where dozens of witnesses saw a massive serpent like creature travelling and surfacing several hundred meters offshore, causing multiple cars to stop and see what the commotion on the beach was all about. All in all all, over 40 people saw Ogopogo that day in what has become one of the most significant pieces of anecdotal evidence of the creatures existence, as almost no photo evidence came of the incident. Despite the lack of credible photo evidence the mission beach sighting has gone down in local lore as much more than a misinterpretation of some other object in the water that day… local residents would get their much desired image of the creature several decades later in the 1960’s with the infamous Folden Film.

In the summer of 1968 Art Folden and his wife were travelling south along the highway towards Penticton BC, when they noticed something very strange in the waters below them. Art pulled over the car and began to film what has now become the most compelling video evidence of a gigantic serpentine creature in Okanagan Lake. In several minutes of film; Art was able to capture the image of a massive 60 foot long 3 foot wide object surfacing, submerging and moving at an impressive rate of speed traveling south near Squally Point. The film was eventually purchased by Arlene Gaal, a journalist, who authored several books on the existence of the Ogopogo, and had it professionally analyzed. The film was not a hoax and the object travelling in the water that day can not be conclusively explained, leaving the Folden film has still the best video evidence of something monstrous in the Lake. However it doesn’t stop there.

In the 1970’s a man by the name of Ed Fletcher claimed to chase Ogopogo for several hours. The creature appeared to be attracted to the electrolysis created by the jet engine of his boat, a common fishing technique for attracting many types of aquatic life. As wild as his initial claims may have been, Ed was able to capture several photos that much like the Folden film are rather difficult to explain. in 1977, Ed Fletcher and his daughter photographed several images of what appears to be humps of a serpent undulating beneath the water with small portions exposed above the surface. Immediately people discounted the photos as nothing more than large waves created by the wake of Fletchers own boat, however upon closer analysis researchers found something slightly more ominous. Although officially inconclusive, the images clearly show that there is some kind of solid object beneath the water, suggesting the possibility that Ed’s photos are more than simply a strange series of waves.

Strange or ‘anomalous’ waves have in fact been the dominant explanation for almost all Ogopogo sightings, with there being some merit to the idea. UBC researchers have published works discussing how wind patterns on the surface in conjunction with temperatures and currents beneath the water can create what is known as anomalous waves, which can travel in strange directions and appear seemingly out of nowhere without a boat in sight. However for this to take place there has to be wind on the surface of the water and in the case of Art Folden and Ed Fletcher both pieces of evidence were taken on sunny afternoons, calm and deprived of conditions for such a wave to occur.

Reports continue to surface every year, some more terrifying than others. In the early 2000’s one local man reported that while swimming in the take training for a triathlon he was followed by two massive black serpents travelling closely behind him. At first he thought it was a trick of his imagination, but when he realized he was being stalked by very real moving objects adrenaline took effect and he headed straight for shore. Sightings such as this are common on the lake where large dark objects are seen one second and disappear the next, the question we are left with is what exactly are people experiencing in Okanagan Lake?

Theories

Like most creatures of cryptozoology, the Ogopogo’s existence is still up for debate. Most mainstream researchers believe that this mountain lake is far too small to be the home of such a giant creature. So what could it be? Some people have suggested that much like Champ in Lake Champlain of Vermont/Quebec, the Ogopogo could be an evolved species of Plesiosaur, an extinct marine reptile that supposedly disappeared around 65 million years ago. However, unlike Champ in lake Champlain, the descriptions of Ogopogo lack the fins and flippers of the Plesiosaur, striking away an already unlikely answer to this mystery.

Others have posited that the sturgeon is the obvious answer for massive creatures being sighted in the water. These types of fish can grow well over 6 feet and at a glance might fit the description of a serpent like monster in the water, however sturgeon are not known to move in an undulating motion like an eel that has been described time and again with sightings of the Ogopogo, not to mention that Sturgeon certainly do not grow to be 60 feet long like the object shown in the Folden Film.

Another theory suggested by researcher Joe Nickel, who has written extensively on Lake Monsters, is that most of these sightings could possibly be a group of otters who are often known to swim in a line. This could account for some of the reported sightings, but does not account for the size or for the feelings described by people who have had experience on and in the water. Fishermen, avid boaters, farmers working lakeside all know what certain animals of the area look like, making it hard to believe that all sightings could be simple misinterpretation.

The most compelling theory for Ogopogo is the idea that the creature is a giant eel that has survived and evolved by burrowing and living in the deep sediment of this rift lake. We know that salt water eels can grow to massive sizes such as The Kongor eel which has been known to grow to sizes up to 20 feet and weigh over 200 pounds, a formidable foe to be sure; but not a freshwater dwelling creature. Despite this the descriptions of Ogopogo all point to the it being some kind of giant eel, and if its reproduction cycles take many years within the depths of this unique mountain lake perhaps there could be a sustaining breeding population lurking in the abyss of lake okanagan.

Best Places to See Ogopogo in the Okanagan

- Squally Point, The alleged home of Ogopogo and location of numerous sightings.

- Naramata, Southern Okanagan Lake

- Pauls Tomb, local beach at Knox Mountain Park that features an underwater statue of Ogopogo. Swim into the depths here to catch a glimpse, if you dare!

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