Lake Monster Mysteries (18 page)

Figure 7.4
Rattlesnake Island viewed from a seaplane. (Photo by Joe Nickell)

In preparing for the trip to Okanagan, I studied the approximately 330 eyewitness sightings—dating from the eighteenth century to 2001—listed in the “Chronology” to Gaal's
In Search of Ogopogo
(2001, 185—208). Mentally, I rounded up the usual suspects: wake effects, bobbing logs, beavers, otters, schools of fish, and many others. Although sturgeon are a probable candidate for some Lake Champlain sightings, at Okanagan, their presence has not been established; indeed, rewards of up to $10,000 have failed to produce a single sturgeon (Gaal 2001, 19).

Since Susan Allison's sighting in 1872—the first by a white settler—eyewitness reports of Ogopogo have proliferated. Blackman (1998, 69) and others overstate the uniformity of the descriptions of Ogopogo; to me, they seem quite varied. For example, the color may be light to dark green, dark brown, brown-black, blackish gray, or jet black; at least one source mentioned a white underside. The skin has been described as smooth, snakelike, or shiny. The height out of the water ranges from three to seven feet, with some estimates of up to fifteen feet. The length is highly variable and includes small creatures dubbed “Ogopups” and larger animals from eight to seventy feet long. The head has been likened to that of a snake, sheep, cow, deer, or horse, with protrusions said to be horns or ears, and with beady eyes and whiskers. The body is said to resemble a log or a great snake, featuring “saw-edged coils” or one to several humps. Appendages reportedly include various fins, flippers, or webbed feet; sometimes it has a forked tail. The creature's movement is often described as “undulating,” but it also frolics, splashes, swims rapidly, slaps the water with its tail, and so on (Gaal 2001, 185–208).

It seems extremely unlikely that the eyewitnesses were seeing a single type of creature—let alone that it was a plesiosaur, zeuglodon, basilo-saurus, or any other extinct or unknown creature. However, by picking out some of the more common features and allowing for mispercep-tions and exaggerations, I was able to produce a composite drawing of Ogopogo and show its similarity to an otter—actually, several otters swimming in a line (
figure 7.5
). As with other lake monster habitats around the world, Lake Okanagan coincides with the habitat of otters,
in this case, the northern river otter
(Lutra canadensis),
as shown in the
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mammals
(Whitaker 1996, 782–85).

Figure 7.5
Composite drawing of Ogopogo (top) is compared with otters swimming in a line (bottom) (after Gould 1976, 116). (Drawings by Joe Nickell)

Of course, not all lake monster sightings are of otters. However, they may be responsible for some of the best sightings, such as the one in 1989 by John Kirk (1998, 52–53) and others: The animal was an estimated thirty-five to forty feet long and consisted of “five sleek, jet-black humps” and a lashing tail. It was moving very fast—perhaps, the eyewitnesses thought, twenty-five miles per hour. Although such an estimate is probably inaccurate, being based on multiple unknowns (e.g., the size of the “animal” and its distance from viewers), it should be noted that “otters are among the fastest swimmers of all animals,” having a cruising speed of six miles per hour and the ability to go “much faster”
(Collier's Encyclopedia
1993).

Photographic evidence of Ogopogo is generally poor, as we found from perusing Arlene Gaal's collection. However, she showed us three film or video sequences that were of interest.

The Folden Film.
This footage was shot by Art Folden in August 1968. Driving along Highway 97 with his family, he saw something moving in the water and pulled off the road to record the object with his 8mm movie camera. The result resembles a fast-moving log. Most observers believe that it's a swimming creature, although I think it could be two, one swimming behind the other. Folden estimated that the object was three hundred yards offshore, and Ogopogo enthusiasts have concluded that the object was very large and moving quite fast (Gaal 2001, 46–52; Kirk 1998, 47–48).

Ben sold NGTV on the idea of doing an on-site experiment involving the Folden film. We selected a site south of Peachland that Ben, John, and I agreed was either Folden's original site or a nearby one consistent with it. Briefly, the experiment involved placing a boat at varying distances from the shore, established by a surveying crew. The three of us agreed on an approximate offshore distance where Folden's creature would have been. The results demonstrated that the distance was far less than Folden had thought; therefore, estimates of the object's size and speed had to be reduced accordingly. (See
appendix 4
for Ben's analysis of this and other films.)

The Thai Film.
On August 11, 1980, some fifty tourists watched as Ogopogo performed for about forty-five minutes off the beach at Kelowna. Larry Thai of Vancouver shot some 8mm film of the event (Gaal 2001, 52–55). Unfortunately, the footage is only about ten seconds long, and “a large dark appendage that moves out of the water” (Gaal 2001, 54) appears to be one of the many defects of the old film. Gaal (2005a) conceded to me that the film might depict two creatures rather than just one; if so, I would suggest a pair of otters.

The DeMara Video.
On July 24, 1992, Paul DeMara videotaped, off Kelowna, “something or some things” that were “traveling just below
the surface of the water at a fairly good speed, estimated at five miles per hour.” Suddenly a boat appeared, towing a water-skier, and crossed the line of movement, whereupon the skier tumbled into the water. About five minutes later, DeMara saw and filmed what he termed “a similar anomaly” (Gaal 2001, 64), estimated by Gaal at thirty feet long and composed of three sections. Several minutes later came a third sighting of something moving underwater (Gaal 2001, 62–67). Gaal (2001, 62–66; 2005a) agrees that there were several “creatures” (she counted seven) in the first video sequence, and I think they look remarkably like otters. I also believe that rather than depicting a single three-section creature, the second and third sequences show otters swimming in a line.

An alternative skeptical view comes from an FBI video specialist, Grant Fredricks (2005), who analyzed the DeMara video and concluded that what he saw was “very consistent with debris from a fallen tree in the water.… the objects very slowly bob up and down.” He also pointed out, as we did, that the objects don't react to the approaching boat or skier, nor does the skier seem at all alarmed by the objects. This suggests that the skier recognized whatever was in the lake and knew that it was neither unusual nor a threat.

Yet another videotape, shot by Ken Chaplin on July 17, 1989, has been dismissed by wildlife experts as “most likely a large river otter or beaver” (Gaal 2001, 71), and Kirk is among many who agree (1998, 64).

Despite many sincere eyewitnesses, a critical look at the evidence yields no proof of a large unknown creature inhabiting Lake Okanagan. Mundane explanations can account for the reports, and the best sightings may be of northern river otters swimming in a line. They imitate the serpentine creature—an image inherited from sea monster tales and Native American legends—that people now expect to see, and that some do indeed perceive, on “the lake of mystery.”

Benjamin Radford

In our search for Ogopogo, the famous monster of Lake Okanagan, I had an idea of what to look for: a creature up to seventy feet long, with dark skin and a characteristic series of humps. Though I went in search of one monster, in a way, I found three. Ogopogo seems to have several distinct incarnations: as an Indian legend, as an elusive biological beast, and as a lovable local mascot. Each Ogopogo reflects the era and expectations of those who embrace it.

Because the evidence for lake monsters rests almost entirely on ambiguous sightings, fuzzy photographs, and a lakeful of supposition, native Indian tales have been used to suggest historical precedence for the creatures. Some lake monsters, such as Loch Ness's Nessie and Lake Champlain's Champ, are depicted as mysterious but fundamentally friendly beasties, playful and elusive. Not Ogopogo, or at least not the Indian stories on which it is supposedly based: that of the fearsome N'ha-a-itk (though the spelling
Naitaka
is common, I've chosen to use the more authentic spelling
N'ha-a-itk).
The N'ha-a-itk-Ogopogo link is firmly cemented in the creature's history and lore, and Ogopogo is more closely tied to native myths than is any other lake monster. Virtually all writers on the subject lump the two together, and in fact, most use the terms interchangeably. For example, “the Indian name for the animal was Naitaka,” writes Peter Costello (1974, 222) in his book
In Search of Lake Monsters.
The definitive book on Ogopogo,
In Search of Ogopogo
by Arlene Gaal, is subtitled “Sacred Creature of the Okanagan Waters” and has a chapter titled “Native Legends of the Ogopogo.” Noted lake monster hunter Roy Mackal (1980, 222) even goes so far as to state with certainty, “The Naitaka are real animals.… The term Ogopogo is of recent origin, whereas the Indian name Naitaka and its variations go back hundreds of years.”

Figure 7.6
Lake Okanagan's Rattlesnake Island (a.k.a. Monster Island), the reputed
home of Ogopogo. (Photo by Benjamin Radford)

N'ha-a-itk
has various translations, including “water demon” or “lake monster.” Many writers prefer to emphasize translations that suit their agendas (such as “snake in the lake”); other interpretations of the Indian word may be just as accurate but less amenable to conscription into lake monster mythos. Mary Moon (1977) gives other examples, such as “sacred creature of the water,” “water god,” and “lake demon.” The creature would demand a toll from travelers for safe passage near its reputed home on Rattlesnake Island, a small, rocky clot in Lake Okanagan (
figure 7.6
). The fee was not just a bit of gold or tobacco but a sacrifice—a live sacrifice. Hundreds of years ago, whenever Indians would venture into the lake, they brought chickens or other small animals to drop into the water. The drowned fowl would sink into the lake's depths and ensure the travelers a protected journey. The island's rocky shore was said to be littered with the gory remnants of passersby who didn't make the sacrifice.

Indian traditions speak of Timbasket, the chief of a visiting tribe who paid a terrible price for challenging N'ha-a-itk. Historian Frank Buckland tells the story:

Timbasket, the Indian cynic.… declared his disbelief in the existence of the lake demon. He was told that the Westbank Indians intended to sacrifice a live dog to the water god as they passed Squally Point, but he was quite unimpressed. He knew too much to concern himself with outmoded customs.… [Later when crossing the lake] Timbasket defiantly chose to travel close to the rocky headland. Suddenly, the lake demon arose from his lair and whipped up the surface of the lake with his long tail. Timbasket, his family and his canoe were sucked under by a great swirl of angry water, (quoted in Moon 1977, 25)

This was the modus operandi for N'ha-a-itk: it would use its mighty tail to lash the lake's waters into a fierce storm that would drown its victims.

The white settlers apparently heeded the Indians' warnings, for the most part; when there were occasional lapses, they would be reminded of the wrath of N'ha-a-itk. In 1854 or 1855, a settler named John MacDougall is said to have neglected the sacrifice. While crossing the lake with a team of horses, a great force sucked his steeds down with a tremendous slurp. MacDougall was terrified when he realized that his canoe, lashed to the horses, was about to be pulled down to a watery doom as well. He grabbed a knife and cut the ropes, narrowly escaping with his life.