Creatures, Myths & Legends

'Incredible discovery' at Lake Champlain

By T.K. Randall
November 6, 2014

Image: AI-generated (Midjourney) Tales of a mysterious creature not dissimilar to the one thought to lurk in the waters of Scotland's Loch Ness have been recorded around North America's Lake Champlain for hundreds of years.

The legend is believed to date back to 1609 when Samuel de Champlain wrote an account of a serpent-like creature measuring 5ft long with large teeth, a body as thick as a man's thigh and tough silver-grey scales that his blade could not penetrate.

Fast forward four centuries and Dennis Hall, a man who claimed to have witnessed the creature in 1985, has since returned to the lake and believes he has found evidence of something remarkable.

Hall and a team of fellow monster hunters had been out on the lake with underwater audio equipment when they managed to record sounds suggesting the presence of a large aquatic mammal."I was listening with the hydrophone and all of the sudden I started hearing 'eekeeekeek,' like monkey noises and it was strange and then clicking like 'click, click, click," said Katy Elizabeth, head of the "Champ Search" organization.

Hall believes that the sounds are those of a beluga whale, a species that could certainly go a long way to explaining the sightings of a large creature in the lake over the years.

Bill Ellison of the Echo Lake Aquarium and Science Center in Burlington however has his doubts.

"Not only would they have a hard time getting here, but they'd have a hard time living here," he said. "They live in salt water. I think it's really highly unlikely that a beluga whale could swim up the seaway, up the Richelieu River and Lake Champlain without being noticed by anyone."

Source: WCAX.com

Tags: Champ, Champlain, Whale