The MonsterQuest look at the Lake Champlain Monster

MonsterQuest’s episode entitled America’s Loch Ness Monster took an in depth look at the Lake Champlain’s lake monster named “Champ”. Though the episode did not find any conclusive evidence it provided a lot of information about the possible existence of the Lake Champlain Monster.

Lake Champlain is a large freshwater lake located between Vermont and New York. The lake is around 440 square miles in surface area, has a max depth of 400 feet, and contains approximately 6.2 cubic miles of water. By way of comparison Loch Ness is around 21.8 square miles of surface area, a max depth of 754 feet and approximately 1.8 cubic miles of water. So Lake Champlain has a lot more room for a monster to potentially hide.

Sightings of the lake monster go back to 1609 with an account by the explorer Samuel de Champlain whom the lake is named after. According to legend, Champlain reported seeing a 20 foot serpent as thick as a barrel with a head like a horse. Since this sighting by Champlain there have been over 200 additional reports of sightings by witnesses.

In 1873, the New York Times carried reports of numerous “Champ” sightings on the lake. This led to the offer of a reward by the famous PT Barnum for Champ’s hide. One credible sighting was made by ferry boat captain B.J. Bombard in 1997. He reported to seeing a creature on the lake that was 6-8 feet in length. Another interesting sighting was made by Christine Hebert in 1987, she reported seeing two different creatures on land near the lake on two separate days.

The most famous sighting of Champ was documented in a picture now called the Mansi photograph. On July 5, 1977, Sandra Mansi was driving along the shore of Lake Champlain with her family. When they stopped near the shore, she spotted a creature that was about 12 feet long in the water. She used her camera to snap a picture of the elongated neck and body of this creature. Many compare this photo to the famous Loch Ness surgeon’s photo.

MonsterQuest gave some background history of Lake Champlain that may help explain the possible existence of Champ. University of Vermont Geologist Steven Wright explained that the Lake Champlain area was directly connected to the Atlantic Ocean as little as 8,000 years ago. This area of salt water is referred to as the Champlain Sea.

In 1849, railroad workers discovered the fossil remains of a large creature near Lake Champlain. These remains are now referred to as the Charlotte Whale as they were later identified to by the 12,000 year old bones of a creature similar to a Beluga Whale. This fossil is on display in Vermont and clearly shows that the Champlain Sea had populations of large ocean animals.

Scott Mardis is a leading Champ researcher that has studied the monster for over 10 years. He believes that Champ is a descendent of a large salt water creature that was trapped in Lake Champlain when the ocean waters receded. Thousands of years of evolution led to the Champ that is currently in the lake.

Saltwater creatures adapting to the fresh water of Lake Champlain is a matter of fact and not fiction. University of Vermont biologist Ellen Marsden cites Atlantic salmon and sturgeon as two saltwater fish that have adapted and currently inhabit Lake Champlain.

In June of 2002, Elizabeth von Moggenthaler made a discovery that may lend credence to the ocean creature theory. She made recordings of what she says in bio sonar. Whales and dolphins are currently the only ocean creatures known to use bio sonar. When the recording that she made are compared to bio sonar recordings of whales and dolphins, they are found to be similar but different. Moggenthaler’s recordings were made at Button Bay, Hunter Bay and Town Farm Bay.

Another theory on the origin of Champ is that it is a remnant population of plesiosaurs. Plesiosaurs were carnivorous aquatic reptiles that were found throughout the world during the Juraisic period. They had lungs that breathed air, had long broad bodies, long necks and four paddle like feet. Plesiosaurs were not dinosaurs but they existed at the same time and are believed to have gone extinct at the same time as dinosaurs. Most descriptions that are given by eyewitnesses are similar to plesiosaurs.

There are a lot of potential explanations for most sightings other than the existence of a lake monster. Sightings of humps could be the residual wake from boats passing miles away. The local sturgeon population may seem exotic to many viewers with sturgeons getting up to 7 feet in length with long strange snouts and heavily scaled bodies.

Another problem with the existence of Champ is the number of creatures needed to sustain a population in the lake. According to University of Vermont biologist Ellen Marsden, there would need to be a population of least 50 of the creatures to maintain breeding stock in the lake. Even in a lake the size of Lake Champlain, 50 Champs is a lot to hide.

Benjamin Radford of Skeptical Inquirer magazine brings up some problems with the famous Mansi photograph. Mansi is unable to recall the exact location at which she took the photos so there are no real size references for anything in the photo. Computer graphics shown by Radford show how lake debris could easily account for the image seen in the photograph.

Pat and Tom Manley of Middlebury College have been conducting a study that reduces the possibility of a Champ population. They have been using advanced side scan sonar to map Lake Champlain. The side scan sonar is so detailed that shipwrecks and logs can be clearly identified in the lake. With this advanced sonar, they should see evidence of Champ if he was in the lake but they have found nothing. The one thing that they have found in a deep channel in the lake that may provide a place for Champ to hide.

The MonsterQuest team worked with Scott Mardis to try to find evidence of Champ. They set up a series of land cameras near the spot of the Hebert Sightings. These cameras were set to film the shore and lake 24 hours a day.

The MonsterQuest team also used two underwater cameras. One of these was disguised in a fake lake trout body that could be trolled behind a boat. The other camera was an advanced forward/reverse underwater camera. This camera can move independently at speeds up to 20 mph. These underwater cameras were put in use in the areas identified by von Moggenthaler.

Unfortunately, after several days and hundreds of hours of reviewed footage the team found no evidence of Champ. Mardis states that he will continue his search for the lake monster. Whether Champ exists or not in Lake Champlain, it is great to be able to stare out at the water and wonder.