Fisherman reports encounter with lake creature

MORIAH — Donald Brazee, a retiree from Watervliet staying in Moriah, saw something on Lake Champlain Saturday.

Something dark, in the water, with three humps that looked suspiciously like Champ, the fabled monster believed to lurk in the lake’s depths.

When the sun’s noon-time rays lazily lapped against Brazee’s boat, Salmon Seeker, Lake Champlain was perfectly still.

Then, something that at first appeared to be a wave, came out of nowhere.

This famous photo of the Lake Champlain monster was taken by Sandi Mansi in 1977. Thousands of people, dating all the way back to the Abenaqi Indians, claim to have seen the creature. This very deep lake lies on the border of New York and Vermont and is accessed by sea through the St. Lawrence Seaway. The first recorded sighting took place when Samuel de Champlain came upon the lake in July 1609. During this expedition, the French explorer noted "a 20-foot serpent, with a horse-shaped head and body as thick as a keg." Since then, sightings of the strange aquatic beast have been reported by over 300 people, many documented in Joseph Zarzynski’s definitive book Champ--Beyond the Legend written in 1984.

Lake Champlain covers an area of about 490 square miles, making it the sixth largest body of fresh water in the United States. It is 108 miles long, 12 miles across at its widest point and has a maximum depth of 399 feet.

By Diane E. Foulds

BURLINGTON, Vt. -- On a chilly morning in June, a team of scientists using underwater microphones picked up a series of strangely high-pitched ticking and chirping noises, similar to what a dolphin or Beluga whale would make. Trouble is, they were miles from the ocean, on Lake Champlain.

Von Muggenthaler was on the lake doing research for the Discovery Channel, which had just finished shooting a TV documentary on ''Champ,'' the legendary Lake Champlain monster.

Although the recordings are still under analysis, they offer the most compelling evidence to date that the creature might actually be real. For ECHO, a Vermont aquarium and science center that opened its doors this spring on the Burlington waterfront, the timing was eerie: August is ''Champ'' month.

Just to be safe, laws protecting the creature from harassment are on the books in Vermont and New Hampshire, and sightings continue.

Originally posted by ImAlreadyPsycho
I would not kill it just to get 50k. I could use the money, no doubt about it, but I think "proof" could be gathered in a manner other than KILLING the animal.

Originally posted by William One Sac
I read in Jerome Clark's book "Unexplained" that the samples which were retained from that creature were tested and proved to be a basking shark. However, he did not document this claim, but I am guessing that a basking shark is a more likely if more mundane explanation rather than a plesiosaur.

Although I do wonder if perhaps these so called "lake monsters" are really deep ocean creatures that migrate via underground springs to the lakes to spawn or raise young. That last bit is complete conjecture on my part, however it would explain alot of the obvious problems that having a monster in your lake presents, such as food supply, breeding population etc..

From the Japanese Trawler
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