Legendary Lake Monsters From Around The World

In the lakes, rivers, swamps and oceans from across the world, people are reporting creatures that defy common logic. Some of these creatures described resemble sea serpents from ancient tales and meanwhile, others are described as being something from prehistoric times. What are these people seeing? Are there really prehistoric aquatic monsters in the waters from around the world?

Lets take a look at these creatures and you decide for yourself.

Nessie

By far, Nessie is the most well known of the unknown creatures so often call monsters. Thousands of people including Police officers, Clergy, and scientists have observed this creature in the waters of Loch Ness in Scotland.. In addition to the many pictures and movies of an unknown creature, there is now some more compelling proof of large creatures inhabiting the waters of Loch Ness. Modern "monster hunters" now use sonar to cut through the dark waters of the loch, as well as, special cameras made for dark under water photography. Here are some of those underwater photos:

Champ

Lake Champlain, is a lake that is 109 miles long on the boarders of New York and Vermont. A French explorer by the name of Samuel De Champlain has been given the distinction of being the first individual to see the North American lake monster in Lake Champlain. This is reported to have develop in the year 1609, but this may not have been the first sighting of the lake monster that has come to be known as CHAMP. A journalist in the 1960’s found that the sighting may not have been in the lake at all ,that it is more likely that the first sighting of the lake monster was off the coast of the St. Lawrence estuary. In all likelihood the first sighting of the lake monster in the lake itself, took place at Port Henry, New York in 1819 by settlers in the territory. It was again noted at an locus that became known as Dresden, New York in the first part of the seventeenth century. The sightings continued and in 1883, the Sheriff of Clinton County Nathan Mooney delineated witnessing a “ an enormous snake or water serpent 25 to 30 feet in length”. In 1899 a group of men fishing saw something slightly leave the water and move up the shore line. Sandra Mansi, was vacationing in Vermont not far from the Canadian Boarder. When the lake monster made its presence known to Mrs. Mansi & her husband. They had the presence of mind to get a camera and took a picture of Champ. The picture was analyzed and it was concluded that it was not a fallacy. From this picture it has been speculated that the lake monster may be a creature known as a plesiosaur, which lived many centuries ago. Lake Champlain would be ideal, It has depths of up to 400 feet and a outlet to the Atlantic ocean. The food is presence to support such a creature or creatures for centuries. Lake Champlain also has a water temperatures that is ideal for the sanctuary of such a creature as well as underwater archeology sites In recent years a smaller creature has been seen with the large one. The research continues in Lake Champlain and only time will give us the answers that we seek. This creature was photographed in Lake Champlain.

Lake Van Monster

Lake Van in Turkey is home to a dinosaur like creature. Many witnesses have observed this creature including the Deputy Minister of the province. The creature is described as being 25 to 30 ft long, blackish color, fins on it's back and hair like growths on its head.

Cadborsaurus

For hundreds of years the native people of Vancouver Island have told legends about a mysterious sea monster. In fact, there are tales of sightings going back three hundred years. Petroglyphs even exist in which such creatures are depicted. Much like the legends of the sasquatch, these tales were not taken seriously by the European settlers. Not until 1937 during an incident in whaling station on the Queen Charlotte Islands did these legends become very real. Whalers had cut open the stomach of a recently harvested whale to discover a set of unique remains. The creature in the stomach of the whale was around 10 ft long, it had a camellia head, a serpent like body and fins and a tail. Luckily photographs of this carcass and the men who found it have survived to this day. These photographs remain the definitive proof of the existence of what has been named the "cadborosaurus willsi" (by scientists Paul LeBlond & Ed Bousefield who have devoted more than 20 years of study to the subject), more commonly known as the "caddy". The Cadborosaurus was named after a bay on Vancouver island called Cadboro Bay, near Victoria. To this day many people have claimed that they have seen this sea monster. Even though it is less well known than its cousin the Ogopogo who lives in the Okanagan Lake, the sightings have been as numerous. In the past four years there have been over 20 sightings up and down the Coast. The descriptions of the Caddy match the description of the remains found in the whales stomach. They are also very close to the descriptions of the Ogopogo leading some people to believe that all of these animals are members of the same family of reptilian water dwellers. Perhaps even related to the most well known of the sea monsters, Nessie..

Source: theshadowlands.net...
Mokele-Mbembe

In the jungles of central Africa countries of Congo, Cameroon, and Gabon are reports of animal an animal with a long neck, a long tail, and rounded shape tracks with three claws. The closest known animal that has these characteristics is a sauropod dinosaur. When some of the local people of the Likouala region would draw in the dirt or sand a representation of Mokele-mbembe they drew the shape of a sauropod dinosaur. Then when they were shown a picture of a sauropod dinosaur they said that picture is Mokele-mbembe. Mokele-mbembe means "One that stops the flow of rivers." French priest in the region called it "monstrous animal."Mokele-mbembe has been described as an animal with a long neck and tail which are characteristics of a sauropod dinosaur. Its body size is somewhere between the size of a hippopotamus and an elephant. Its length has been reported to be between 5 to 10 meters (16 to 32 feet). The length of the neck is between 1.6 to 3.3 meters (5 to 10 feet). The length of the tail is between 1.6 to 3.3 meters (5 to 10 feet). The reports out of Cameroon have reported Mokele-mbembe to be up to 75 feet in length. There have also been reports of a frill on the back of the head. The frill is like the comb found on a cock (male chicken). There has also been reports of it having a horn on its head.

Source: www.mokelembembe.com...

(Continued)

Ogopogo

Canada's most famous water monster is Ogopogo of Lake Okanagan in the south central interior of British Columbia. Although Indian legends support a monster living in Okanagan Lake long before white men arrived in this country, Ogopogo is very much a present day phenomenon. Each year, sightings are reported of a creature some 20 to 50 feet long, with a horse shaped head and an undulating serpent like body! Okanagan Lake is about 80 miles long extending from Vernon at the north end to Penticton in the south with the fast growing city of Kelowna in the center. Sightings have been reported throughout the length of the lake but the monster appears to favour an area just south of Kelowna in waters near Peachland. [The Beaches of Okanagan Lake] The first recorded sighting by a caucasion was by Mrs. John Allison in 1872 and such instances have continued to this day with many credible, rational and sober people becoming absolute believers. Indian folklore specifically places the lair of the lake monster which they called N'ha-a-itk, or lake demon, at a cave under Squally Point near Rattlesnake Island which is offshore from Peachland. The Indians would never paddle a canoe near this area without an offering because too often a storm would spring up and N'ha-a-itk would rise out of the waters to claim another life! When white settlers first came to this area in the mid 1800s, they were not superstitious but gradually changed their views with ongoing sightings of the monster. An early instance tells of two horses swimming behind a boat that were mysteriously pulled beneath the waves and the owner barely saving himself by cutting the rope attached to the horses! Today's sightings, often from modern power boats, indicate a much friendlier monster but still very large in size. It has been filmed a number of times but other than people agreeing there was something in the water, no absolute conclusions have been made. It is usually reported as dark blue, black or brown with a lighter underside. It can move with astounding speed but many sightings in calm weather have been made of the creature apparently feeding on either fish or aquatic weeds. People very close, between 50 and 100 feet, report seeing fins or feet on the animal.

Source: www.tourcanada.com...
Mussie

Mussie is an alleged sea monster reported to be living in Muskrat Lake, 75 miles (121 km) northwest of Ottawa, capital of Canada. The legend has gone a through a gradual image change over the years. In the past the creature was depicted with shameless wild exaggeration. Classified as a "hepaxalor" and endowed with three eyes and sharp teeth, Mussie was shown as a great serpent towering over its prey. However, the interest of several "Mussie enthusiasts" of various professional grades has helped to organize witness accounts and streamline the modern perception of Mussie. It is now most popularly imagined as an unknown type of marine mammal, sharing traits with a seal or walrus.Local folklore says that while exploring the region over 300 years ago, Samuel de Champlain learned from the natives of the area of a legendary creature that lived in the lake. Though the legend may certainly descend from native lore, no mention is given of it in Champlain's memoirs. Nevertheless, the myth survived with help from a sign which once welcomed visitors to Cobden. The sign featured Champlain holding his famous lost astrolabe while looking out over Muskrat Lake. In the lake, prominently displayed, is Mussie, depicted as having three eyes and a long tongue. The sign is inaccurate in many ways, least of all in giving the impression that Champlain had actually encountered the creature. Though the sign has been replaced, its impact is still felt. Champlain is still the traditional starting point for any Mussie tale.

Source: en.wikipedia.org...
Bear Lake Monster

The Bear Lake Monster is a cryptid appearing in local folk-lore near Bear Lake, on the Utah–Idaho border. The myth originally grew from articles written in the 19th century by Joseph C. Rich, a Mormon colonizer in the area, purporting to report second-hand accounts of sightings of the creature. However, he later recanted the stories. The Bear Lake Monster has been speculated to be a Basilosaurus Cetoides, however these prehistoric whales did not live in freshwater thus making this impossible. But in the case of Nessie, Plesiosaurs survived in the oceans until the Loch was cut off from oceanic areas, thus making them adapt to freshwater. Also, some say it may be a holdover of Mosasaurus. Subsequent alleged reports have given conflicting descriptions of the beast, with some describing it as similar to a walrus and others saying that it closely resembles a Sauropterygia and still others describing it as a larger-than-average carp. The last reported sighting of the monster was in 2004.

Source: en.wikipedia.org...
Cressie

The creature was first reported in ancient Native American legends, in which it was referred to as "Woodum Haoot" (Pond Devil) or "Haoot Tuwedyee" (Swimming Demon). It was feared by the local residents of the lakeside, but reports of it by the settlers only began in the early 20th century. In the 1950s, two men saw what they thought was an upturned boat heading upwind, but upon approaching it, it flipped itself around again and dived below the lake. In the 80's a pilot crashed and drowned in Crescent Lake, and while two scuba divers attempted to retrieve his body, they were attacked by a school of uncommonly large eels, and were forced to retreat. Other sightings have included an incident in July, 1991, when a "Cressie" was seen swimming on the lake's surface, and in the summer of 2003, when a woman saw the creature swimming again.

Source: en.wikipedia.org...
Bessie

Lake Erie is located in Cleveland Ohio and there is said to be a creature roaming its waters. There have been many sightings in the waters of Lake Erie of a unknown creature that is known to many by the nickname of “Bessie”. The Lake Erie locals have themselves given this unknown cryptid a name “South Bay Bessie”. The creature has been reported as far back as the 1800’s up until many present day sightings. Most descriptions vary some but the creature is said to have a snake like frame ranging in length from 30 to 40 feet long and having a grayish color. Sightings of Bessie have started to become a little more frequent over the last two decades. There was an attack in 1992 where 3 people were killed on the lake and the creature was reportedly linked to the tragidy. One of the people who survived the attack was said to make a quote saying “the creature that attacked him has a head the size of a car but this report cannot be confirmed so it is considered by many to simply be a local myth or legend.Many main stream scientist still reject the notion that “Bessie” could be alive and well in Lake Erie.

Source: cryptoreports.com...

[Continued]

Morag

Loch Morar lies 70 miles to the southwest of the infinitely more famous Loch Ness. Eleven miles long and a mile and a half across at its widest point, it is separated from the sea by a quarter-mile, sits 30 feet above sea level, and averages 200 feet in depth. According to reports that go back decades and possibly centuries, it hosts a monster much like that reported at Ness and other Scottish and Irish lochs. Sightings of Morag, as the creature has been named, occurred throughout the 1800's and 1900's. Some link the sightings to folk traditions of the Water Horse or Kelpie of Morar. On April 3, 1971, Ewen Gillies, a lifelong resident of a house overlooking Loch Morar and a member of a family with centuries-old roots in the region, saw the creature for the first time. Alerted by his 12-year-old son John, who noticed it a few minutes earlier while walking down a road near the shore, Gillies stepped outside and looked out on the water. It was a clear, sunny morning, around 11 o'clock. Not quite half a mile away a huge animal lay in the water, its three or four-foot neck pointed straight up and curving slightly at the top. The head was barely distinguishable from the neck itself. Two or three humps, moving up and down slightly, ran along its back. The skin was black and shiny. The creature was approximately 30 feet long.

Source: www.wendigoentertainment.com...
Flathead Lake Monster

This animal was first spotted by native americans who lived in Montana's Flathead Lake. It is described as a long, slender, black bodied serpent with no fins. It is estimated to be 30 ft long. It has been seen numerous times swimming across the lake and also spouting streams of water into the air. In 1885, the skipper of the US Grant observed the creature swimming directly at his ship. It was also sighted by 50 witnesses in 1919 aboard another boat. In the 1920s, fishermen on Flathead Lake reported that their nets were being shredded by a large unidnetified creature. The 1960's was a period of many sightings. One 1960 witness described the creature, "It had the head about the size of a horse.. and about a foot of neck showing". The sightings have dwindled over the years but have not stopped completely. DIve teams have made attempts to locate the creature to no avail.

Source: theshadowlands.net...
Lake Turtle Monster

Over the past 40 years, there have been numerous reported sightings of an unusual animal in Turtle Lake, located in West-central Saskatchewan. Natives call it Big Fish. Descriptions, however, vary widely. Some say it is three meters long and others say it is 10 meters long. Some say it is black or a brown... or green. Some say it has a dorsal fin like a shark; some say it is sleek like an otter. Often the Turtle Lake Monster is reported to tear apart fishermen's nets, to terrorize boaters, and to scatter schools of fish.

Source: www.mysteriesofcanada.com...
Chessie

Chessie is a legendary sea monster said to live in the midst of the Chesapeake Bay. Over the years there have been many alleged sightings of a serpent-like creature with flippers as part of its body. According to Matt Lake in Weird Maryland, two perch fishermen, Francis Klarrman and Edward J. Ward, in 1943 spotted something in the water near Baltimore. “This thing was about 75 yards (69 m) away, at right angles from our boat. At first it looked like something floating on the water. It was black and the part of it that was out of the water seemed about 12 feet (3.7 m) long. It has a head about as big as a football and shaped somewhat like a horse’s head. It turned its head around several times—almost all the way around. In 1982 Robert and Karen Frew supposedly videotaped Chessie near Kent Island. Their video does show a brownish “something” moving side to side like an aquatic snake. Most sighting reports of this sea monster describe it as a long, snake-like creature. The reported length of the monster varies from 25 to 40 feet (12 m) long. It is said to swim using its body as a sine curve moving through the water. There were a rash of sightings in 1977 and more in the mid 1980s. Although there are alleged photographs of Chessie, there is no genuine evidence of its existence. The last notable sighting of the beast was in 1997, off the shore of Fort Smallwood State Park, very close to shore. The legend of "Chessie" is very similar to, and was likely inspired by, that of "Nessie", the Loch Ness Monster. The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. Its surface and major tributaries cover more than 4,479 square miles (11,600 km2) and in places it is 175 feet (53 m) deep. A photograph of an unknown sea creature taken by Trudy Guthrie in 1980 was later identified as a manatee from Florida. Manatees are unusual this far from Florida. A manatee nicknamed “Chessie” was rescued from the Chesapeake's chilly water in October 1994 and returned to Florida, but has revisited the Chesapeake several times since then. It was photographed in the Patapsco River in 2010 (unconfirmed) and near the shore of Calvert County on July 12, 2011. The more recent photograph was confirmed by U.S. Geological Survey biologists. Unlike the reports of a serpentine creature, manatees do not swim undulating from side to side. Other speculations to explain sightings have included a mutant eel theory, large river otters, prehistoric zeuglodons, and South American anacondas escaping from 18th and 19th century sailing ships.

Source: en.wikipedia.org...

Possible new Lake Monster discovered in Canada? The creature is being dubbed as "Cammy" and supposedly lives in Lake Cameron on Vancouver Island. Story here: www.livescience.com...

And another one here of a Monster called "Bownessie" at Lake Windermere in England: news.discovery.com...

Sea Serpent accounts: www.unmuseum.org...

These are the best 3 books on the subject in my opinion and I recommend these to anyone that are interested in Water Cryptids:





Enjoy

I like how the locals give their monsters names that sound like 'Nessie'.

Kinda drives the point home that they're just trying to draw tourists.

reply to post by Vrill


Phenomenal post! I live in Vermont, about 5 minutes from Lake Champlain, so thank you for remembering to include Champ!!!

To add to the OP, Samuel de Champlain's journals were also said to report on seeing this creature on land moving very quickly towards water. I'm fairly sure he had several accounts in his journals about it!

Also, my grandmother, a lifelong-lake-liver (lol), swears that she has spotted Champ at some point in her 87 years!

One day I got excited at seeing humps rising from the water, but upon reaching them, I found out it was just a bunch of big carp swimming at the surface... Damn...

Good list! A few years back I was out on a boat fishing with my buddy and I actually saw Bessie! I was awestruck at the sight of the serpentine like creature. I didn't see its head but I got a good look at the body for it was only about 30 yards from the boat. It was brown and not grey like what was described by others. It was too long for any type of snake around however it moved similar to a snake, not like a snake but similar. and it was smooth looking so that rules out the possibility of a sturgeon.

reply to post by Vrill


Great post thanks! Do these creatures exist? At least one of them does. How do I know? I had the luck (along with my wife) to have an extended viewing of a Cadrosaurous just off the coast of Vancouver Island a few years back. Daylight viewing with very calm, glass-like waters. It watched us as we watched it! Amazing moment! Yep, there are some strange and wonderful things out there.

reply to post by HardyWhite


Yeah, some of the reports state that some of these creatures will leave the water and get on land.

reply to post by jimbo999


Very interesting. How big would you say that the creature was?

In Search of Lake Monsters by Peter Costello is another great book on this subject. I forgot to add that one above.

home.access4less.net...

Reports of a sea serpent in the San Fransisco bay. Some of the reports are very recent. It also has a picture area of the creature.

I live in Lake Elsinore,CA and theres alot of reports of a lake monster here names ELSSIE.
i personally have never seen it but alot of people have.and theres a huge statue of it near the lake

Great thread, these are my favorites among the cryptids. I grew up spending summers on the shores of the Chesapeake. I never got to see Chessie but I did catch a few eels!

I do hope there really are some prehistoric sea creatures still with us. Far from being frightening I find the idea comforting that large creatures from our distant past may have managed to survive.

reply to post by Vrill


An interesting compilation. I have to bring to your attention that the first photo of Nessie is almost universally accepted as a hoax, however, (—known as The Surgeon's photograph):

Essentially, it was a toy submarine bought from Woolworths with a head and neck made of plastic wood, built by Christian Spurling, the son-in-law of Marmaduke Wetherell, a big game hunter who had been publicly ridiculed in the Daily Mail, the newspaper that employed him. Spurling claimed that to get revenge, Marmaduke Wetherell committed the hoax, with the help of Chris Spurling (a sculpture specialist), his son Ian Marmaduke, who bought the material for the fake Nessie, and Maurice Chambers (an insurance agent), who would call to ask surgeon Robert Kenneth Wilson to offer the pictures to the Daily Mail...

Source


There is some pretty heavyweight evidence in support of the existence of a mysterious creature in the Loch, however. Some can be seen in this thread:

Loch Ness Monster might actually exist

(—particularly on p.2).

Has there been any recent new Lake Monster sightings from around the world that anyone knows about or would like to share? Or even any "latest" sightings from the ones already known and talked about?

I find the prospect of existing relics, dinosaurs, just titillating

I live by Loch Ness, and have known too many locals who have seen something in the loch to dismiss it as a hoax. Here is a link to a recent sighting on a fish finder at Urquhart Bay.
www.dailyrecord.co.uk...