Ogopogo... The Lake Creature
Does It Really Exist?

If people have never heard of the Okanagan, they definitely know about the Ogopogo. The existence of this famed creature dates back as far as 1872!

Okanagan Lake is home to this lake monster. The lake is massive in size. It is about 169 Km(80 miles) long, 3.5 Km(2.2 miles) wide and depths estimated to be nearly 305 meters(1000 feet)!

I must say that I have glanced around when I am swimming or boating on the lake hoping to catch a glimpse of something.

I am a believer and cannot dispute that an unknown species could exist in such a huge lake.

The Ogopogo is considered a close relative of Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster of Scotland. People are always fascinated with the unknown and this is why this is such an interesting story that has evolved over the years.

Movie film frame taken by Edward Fletcher (1976)

The creature has been reported to be anywhere from 6 meters(20 feet) to over 21 meters(70 feet) long. It has been described as having a horse or goat-like head and a long serpentine-like body with humps on its back.

The actual place where this sea monster lives is said to be at Rattlesnake Island near Sqally Point, across from the town of Peachland.

A Little History

As I mentioned before, archival records of the existence of the Ogopogo date back to 1872.

In the year 1914, the tribes of the Nicola Valley and Westbank Indians discovered a decomposing body of an unidentified creature across from Rattlesnake Island. It was about 1.5 to 2 meters(5 to 6 feet) long and weighed probably around 181 Kg(400 pounds).

It was blue-grey in colour and had a tail and flippers. The carcass was so badly mangled that the long neck that was attached to the body was totally gone.

The Indians figured that this must be a baby as many of the other sightings described a much larger creature. How it had gotten into the lake was unexplainable.

The native indians named this creature N'ha-a-tik or 'snake-in-the-lake'. Other references to this lake monter include the Chinook wicked one and 'great-beast-on-the-lake'.

The Indians did a lot of fishing. When crossing the lake and the weather turned bad, the Indians always carried a small animal such as a chicken with them. They then tossed the animal into the lake as a sort of sacrificial offering to appease the creature below.

There have been footprints found on the shores of Okanagan lake. Shapes from cup-like, to dinosaur tracks with three toes, to a pad foot with eight toes. But these lend themselves to being a scam or hoax so they are not taken too seriously.

There have been over 200 sightings of this incredible creature, many of them from credible witnesses. These include a priest, a sea captain, a surgeon, police officers and so on.

They definitely make the existence of the creature a very strong possibility.

Photo courtesy of Carl E. Lebron Jr using Google Earth (2009)

Below I am going to list several sigthings by multiple witnesses at the same time. These are even more exciting as they give even more credibility to the legend.

• September 16, 1925 Something very large was watched moving through the waters by some thirty cars of people parked along an Okanagan beach. Not many monsters have been seen by so many people at one time. These sightings from 1925-1926 deserve some more in-depth study for sure!
• July 2, 1947 A number of boaters reported seeing the monster all around the same time.
• July 17, 1959 More than a few people saw a huge creature with a snake-like head and a blunt nose for about three minute before submerging back into the deep waters of Okanagan lake.
• Summer of 1989 A couple out for a stroll saw a bizarre animal as it emergedfrom the waters, the same spot as someone recorded a video of this creature.
  
• July, 1989 A British Columbian car salesman by the name of Ken Chaplain took a video of what he described as a snake-like creature about 4.5 meters(15 feet) long and dark green in colour.

Besides the numerous Ogopogo sightings there have been some photos and half a dozen films and videos taken of some kind of object moving in Okanagan lake.

Some of these pictures include:

• the 1964 Parmenter photo.
• the 1976 Fletcher photo.
• the 1978-1979-1981 Gaal photos.
• the 1981 Wachlin photo.
• and the 1984 Svensson photogragh.

There have been reported sightings of creatures residing in approximately sixty other lakes in the world. All of these fall in the same latitude as the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland and the Ogopogo here in the Okanagan.

View of Rattlesnake Island, home Of The Ogopogo

Supporters of the existence of the lake monster have argued that, similar to the Loch Ness, underground passages exist between Lake Okanagan and the Pacific Ocean to the west (connected by the Columbia River). There have been Ogopogo-like creatures observed in the Pacific Ocean.

To sum this mystery up, until someone captures a beast or discovers an actual carcass of one, there is no real proof that one does exist. Until there is some hard evidence to support it, the elusive Ogo pogo will remain a classic Canadian mystery.

But don't tell that to the many witnesses of the creature, and of the many believers of its existence.

Long live the Ogopogo!

I hope you enjoyed this part of the Okanagan Valley Guide. Please return regularly as I add new pages and provide more information for you.

Thanks for visting. See you soon!