OKANAGAN Lake Creature

not sure if this has been posted but I thought I would let you all in on it.

Submitted by Bbrown88: A TV documentary crew has added to the mystery surrounding Ogopogo by finding an unknown biological specimen in the depths of Okanagan Lake. "I told a radio station tongue-in-cheek I thought it was the baby Ogopogo," monster-watcher Bill Steciuk of Kelowna said Monday after the History Channel completed a nine-day shoot. "It was all curled up. The features were really hard to see. You could see a little head tucked in and a straight tail with no fins. "It's a huge mystery. We have no idea what it is," said Steciuk, who helped organize the shooting locations. The unidentified specimen has been shipped to the University of Guelph in Ontario for DNA tests, but Ogopogo buffs will have to waituntil February to find out more, when the Monster Quest program weighs in on the legendary mega-serpent. Ogopogo, first sighted in the 1870s, is reputed to be 12 metres long with multiple humps and a small head. The History Channel, which had a bigger budget than previous expeditions, mounted a thermal infrared imaging camera on a helicopter for the first time. It picked up an unidentified shadow on the lake, while sonar spotted something over three metres long moving in the water. "That's pretty big for a fish," said Steciuk. But divers made the most interesting find in an underwater cave on the west side of Rattlesnake Island. "I couldn't recognize it," said Steciuk. "Nor could anyone else. Maybe a new species has been found." Photographs of the specimen were shown to local expert Arlene Gaal, who has earned the title ofOgopogo-ologist after writing three books on the subject. She is not sure that the son of Ogopogo has been found. "The Ogopogo is real, but I don't know what this is," she said. "I had my doubts when the crew presented me with their findings. It looked to me like a decomposing ling cod." She said the crew's best efforts were wasted on choppy waters."It was not the time for sightings," she said. "The Ogopogo likes warm weather and sunshine." Producers departed with dramatic re-enactments of past sightings - but no catch of the century.

Source: Link

I also have not seen this aired on monster quest yet so you think they could not divuldge the information.

Tis a shame we don't have a picture to see. But I will be checking MQ to see if they have found anything interesting!

Thanks for the find! S&F

tO

Originally posted by TheOmen
Tis a shame we don't have a picture to see. But I will be checking MQ to see if they have found anything interesting!

Thanks for the find! S&F

tO

To me it seams in the article above that they have pictures of something on MQ. I am pretty excited to see this episode, but we will wait and see.

My children look for the Ogopogo every summer. They spot it at least 3 times a vacation.

Originally posted by Aeons
My children look for the Ogopogo every summer. They spot it at least 3 times a vacation.

I had never hurd of it till I found this article now I am researching it

It just so happens, I live right near the lake of which this lovely little mythical creature resides. And have so for over 28 years.

It's origins come from the aboriginal Indians mythology. What the Ogopogo really is, is a special type of wave, that our lovely lake produces that creates that illusion of this humped snake like water creature.





There was an episode of Unsolved Mysteries where they bought footage claiming to be the Ogopogo in turn, was just one of our local beaver's off enjoying a swim and slapping it's tail.



So there you have it... a beaver or a wave. You decide.

I suppose I should promote the myth because I am a local... but meh, I've seen the ogopogo countless times, as in the wave anomaly, even drove into it with my boat.

Have fun.


[edit on 27-2-2009 by YouAreDreaming]

I'm from the Okanagan, and years ago Leonard Nimoy covered the Ogopogo in a "in search of" episode. At the time there was talk of the lake being very deep, in fact they didn't reach the bottom, and tunnels that went to the ocean, as well as salt water at the bottom. There were similarites between it and Loch Ness. Speculation included the possibility that it was giant eels, and this made some sense as it had an undulating snake like body. My mother saw it near Peachland and shouted for dad to stop, but he wouldn't. What she described was like thrashing water and giant snakes. When we got home the news hour had caught the sightings near Peachland as well.
The Ogopogo is a part of native myth and legend in the valley.

I have never seen the Ogopogo although I have been to the Okanagan once or twice. I do however believe that it is possible and a lot more likely than many people give credit for. After all "there are more strange things between heaven and Earth, Horatio, than you or I could ever imagine". [Socrates... I think.]

Hello, well I stumbled across this thread and just had to talk about what I personally know about the lake and creature. I have relatives who live in Kelowna B.C. (where the lake is located) and one summer I went out to visit them when I was about 16.

Now before this, I first heard of the tale of Ogopogo when I was really young because my relatives would always send me Ogopogo memorabilia of the creature such as stuffed animals and funny nick knacks for Christmas and explained the legend to me at a young age.

Back to me visiting Kelowna. The day we arrived we took a boat cruise of the lake in a houseboat. Of course the first thing my relatives reminded me of before i dove in was the creature that lives in there. I actually hesitated jumping in . I survived and after my swim they sat me down and told me what they new about the history of the lake.

A lot of history about the region being good for growing grapes ect. But, the thing that caught my attention was the story behind the construction of the Okanogan lake bridge which spans the lake.

Here is a quick link for a picture:

www.okmapguides.com...

There is a section of the bridge that is actually a floating pontoon (the website confirms this). My relatives said that during construction of the bridge many of the divers quit there jobs because of large fish two or three times the size of the divers in length were coming too close for comfort in schools while they were trying to fasten the pontoon bridge section to the bottom of the lake.

Now I am not too sure of what species of these fish were but I was not kind of creeped out that I was in the lake with giant fish way bigger then I was (Since I’m from Ontario and our lakes only have fish maybe several feet in length max). This made me more nervous then a legendary lake monster. Perhaps this can account for some sighting of ripples or hump like features seen in the water.

P.S. In Kelowna, Ogopogo tends to have a kind reputation. SO even if he exists, don’t worry about it.

reply to post by YouAreDreaming


I've lived in Kelowna for 32 years , the Native Or Salish name for Ogopogo is Naitaka , the native legend is the lake serpent is the soul of a murderer condemned to eternity as this monster . Sorry not about a wave . Yes during the many expeditions searching for the Ogopogo they have discovered our lake to be very deep unreachable in some areas , also traces of salt water so the theory of our Ogopogo being a stergeon is very possible they grow to great sizes and have humps. The one theory is they came in through the caves that run from the ocean just one theory. There is something in our lake that's for sure . But think about the new discoveries they make in the ocean everyday it's completely possible our old Oggy is something new. I fully belive him to be very harmless he likes solitude and deep water keeps to himself and has never harmed anyone . If u want more information look up Okanagan Native legend there is a lot of info on his legend history and sightings . I just pray when they do find him they leave him in his home

Must be coming up on tourism season again.

I don't really believe in strange lake creature as me and my colleagues are spending most of our work time around lakes, rivers and reservoirs and haven't seen anything we could'nt explain.

Could be a big fish. I've seen sturgeons and pike that are more than 7 feet in lenght. Nothing out of the ordinary with that except that they are seldom seen even while diving because of the poor visibility range underwater in lakes.

And on big lakes or reservoir, I have seen a few strange waves. I don't know if they are produced by the same principles than ocean's rogue waves but sometime a wave form that is bigger than the other waves for no apparent reasons. Could easily be confused for a strange creature ... especialy if you ARE looking for a strange creatures.

reply to post by Aeons


My family has gone to Kelowna every summer for at least 10 years or so.
Kelowna is an awesome city during the summer.

My point is their tourism, imo would still do fine without the Ogopogo.

Wow, some locals in here!

I spent the last few years in Summerland not far from this creatures "liar" which is suspected to be in an underwater cave beneath rattlesnake island..

Has this aired already? They were filming this last year i believe...

reply to post by HIWATT


Yea it ended up being a fish carcass. A salmon I believe, very anti-climatic.

Was a good episode though, too bad it was just a fish carcass.

Pred...

[edit on 15-4-2010 by predator0187]

Originally posted by predator0187
reply to post by HIWATT

 

Yea it ended up being a fish carcass. A salmon I believe, very anti-climatic.

Was a good episode though, too bad it was just a fish carcass.

Pred...

[edit on 15-4-2010 by predator0187]

That wasn't the Ogopogo. I remember that. Some guy found what looked like a "weird fish" dead on the shore and it was sent off for identification... don't remember hearing what became of that but i saw pictures of it and it looked weird but was wayyyyyy too small to be the Ogopogo.

Like you said, it was the size of a Salmon (and could very well have been)

The Ogopogo has been reported as being considerably larger than that. Think Loch Ness Monster.

Never saw it myself, but if i ever do i'll offer it a beer

I didn't realise there were so many other people here from the Okanagan area

I live a block away from the lake in Kelowna and been here most of my life. I remember when I was a kid I used to go out on my family's boat and look for the Ogopogo. Never did find the bastard.

Every summer someone usually takes a picture of a log floating in the lake and it gets in the paper though lol

I'm not sure how anyone can really justify a lake monster in there when there's barely even any fish.

Originally posted by ZombieOctopus
I didn't realise there were so many other people here from the Okanagan area

I'm not sure how anyone can really justify a lake monster in there when there's barely even any fish.

Yeah, it's kinda cool!

Well when you think about the (ancient) history of the area... pretty much the whole central/south Okanagan is one gigantic prehistoric volcanic basin.

I lived a coupled blocks from Giants Head Mnt. which some long time locals didn't even know was an extinct volcano.

Okanagan lake is around 700' deep and something like 140 miles long.

Plenty of room for "leftover prehistoric ghoulies" to hide!

Anyway the whole of the Okanagan has that really "ancient" vibe to it... due to the topography/native history, so I'm not surprised there is talk of this mamoth underwater beast - nor would i be surprised if it actually existed

it is nice to see so many "kelownians" on ats. this town is renowned for propped collars and clubbers, good to see some intelligent people with open minds in my community

ive lived in kelowna my whole life, but i have never seen ogopogo nor any mysterious anomalies in the lake. i have, however, seen several ufo's over the course of my life here.

reply to post by aeroslag


I've heard quite a few paranormal type stories from people here, especially UFO stories in recent years, but I haven't seen anything at all myself. I spend a lot of time out on my balcony looking up during the summer at night too, just not lucky I guess.