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Lake monsters
If scrambling to be become conversant, let alone knowledgeable about Bigfoot and bipedal primates was an effort for an armchair enthusiast like me, learning about the wide variety of lake, river and sea monsters throughout history was a monumental task. Even as I began my arduous research into the lore of monsters rising from the depths, I knew one thing at the outset:
As in my previous two efforts, I did not want to take the easy way out of accepting the origins and species put forth by others. My novels are as much about scientific and anthropological discovery, as the development of characters, plot and story lines. To that end, I decided to begin with a study of the most famous and seemingly interrelated water horses, kelpies and lake monsters.
the usual suspects
The first species I wrote off my list, in a cursory examination of The Big Three, was giant eels, plesiosaur/elasmosaurs and zeuglodons. While land-locked aquatic dinosaurs and primitive whales trapped by the melting glacial ice that carved their habitats provided an easy answer, where was the mystery I sought for the explanation of their existence?
The Big Three, of course, are Nessie in Loch Ness of Scotland, Champie of Lake Champlain in upstate Vermont, and Ogopogo of British Columbia's Lake Okanogan. Although there are widely held beliefs as to the differences between their most famous denizens, the lakes themselves hold the key to their similarities. The most predominant is that they all occur in what is known as the Arboreal Belt, the heavily-forested northern expanse straddling latitudes 40 to 50 in the mid-northern hemisphere. It is marked, depending on the elevation, by temperate climates and an abundance of rainfall, deciduous or coniferous tree growth.
a case of mistaken identity
There are any number of misidentifications for sightings, particularly with the area of lake monsters. Any variety of animate or inanimate objects, living or dead, have misled people who claim to have witnessed something extraordinary. It is these same naturally occurring phenomena that proliferate and extend the myths and legends surrounding the creatures they are hoping or unexpectedly see.
Here then, for your consideration, is a list of the most common:
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Sturgeon: a large, prehistoric looking fish that can grow up to 14 feet in length |
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Seiches: strange wave patterns that move against the flow of the rest of the body of water |
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Methane: rising gas released either by tectonic pressure or natural decomposition of sediment |
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Animals: seals, dogs, dolphins, deer, moose, beaver, otter and other mammals swimming in lakes |
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Oarfish: a ribbon herring, the longest of all bony fish, believed to reach up to 50 feet in length! |
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Elephants: highly unlikely, but more than one swimming specimen has been blamed before |
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Logs: released by methane (see above), as viewed on the surface or underwater at the right angle |
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Wakes: boats can leave a wedge-shaped trail that widens as if created by by a living creature |
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Birds: flocking patterns of gulls or other sea-faring birds landing or taking off can seem monstrous |
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Myths: it may be that creature is just a story, and actual mysterious events are attributed to it |
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Hoax: the perpetration of an intentional planting of "evidence" to be seen as proof by others |
modus operandi
The following is a comparative chart I created to contrast the similarities between the lakes:
| Characteristic | Loch Ness | Lake Champlain | Lake Okanagan |
| Monster | Nessie | Champie | Ogopogo |
| Location | Scotland | Vermont | British Columbia |
| Topography | Arboreal | Arboreal | Arboreal |
| Parallel | 57 degrees N | 43 degrees N | 44 degrees N |
| Temperature | 42 degrees F | 44 degrees F | 50 degrees F |
| Length | 23 miles | 120 miles | 96.8 miles |
| Width | 1 mile | 12 miles | 2 1/2 miles |
| Depth | 754 feet | 400 feet | 800 feet |
| Elevation | 51.8 feet | 580.7 feet | 1122 feet |
| Surface Area | 21.8 miles | 435 miles | 218 miles |
| Shoreline | 24 miles | 587 miles | 200 miles |
| Islands | 1 | 70 | 1 |
| Tributaries | Caledonian Canal | 18 Rivers | 2 Rivers |
| Basin | 700 sq. miles | 8,324 sq. miles | 13,421 sq. miles |
| Age | 10,000 years | 12,000 years | 15,000 years |
| Formation | Glacier | Glacier | Glacier |
Over the years, there have been many sighting of the creatures said to live in these lakes. They varied widely not only between the lakes, but within them, as well. All three at various times have reported to appear as any variety of the species previously listed. Some are compelling, and may or may not include photographic evidence. Others are clearly misidentifications, or even hoaxes perpetrated by those with a score to settle, or a profit to make.
Then, there are others not so easily dismissed. These are the ones I studied out the closest, and came to what I believe to be a startling realization. Especially those which clearly showed a dark object with a small head craned swanlike above broad shoulders, and flippers. A plesiosaur, of which the elasmosaur was the largest species, was incapable of listing its neck much above the bony plates of its shoulders. A zeuglodon, resembles a giant dolphin, and would not have been seen overland, as Nessie had been on over thirty sightings.
The giant eels theory has never held much merit, in my estimation, and provides the least direct evidence, although eels are capable of growing indefinitely and have been known to move over land great distances between bodies of water. So, if we dismiss the commonly held aquatic dinosaurs, prehistoric whales and giant modern day eels, what's left?
I'm glad you asked.
composite sketches
That question was the very staring point of my research, which included the help of an incredible artist and dinosaur exhibit designer, Rick Spears. As the subject of my study, I did not select any of the three primary lakes or their well-known denizens. In fact, I even avoided making use of Lake Norman's 'Normie' in North Carolina, and Lake Murray's 'Messie' in nearby Columbia, South Carolina. Both are manmade lakes, less than a century old, and unlikely candidates for a migratory creature, rather than a breeding population of perennial creatures cumulatively identified as a single entity.
Besides, the work of Rick Spears and the plethora of sightings drew me to an even more unusual location, far more mysterious and rife with the three elements for the study of any cryptid species. Native Legends, Historical Records and Eyewitness Accounts all figured deeply in my selection of the Altamaha River, below Savannah Georgia.
scene of the crime
For the last forty years, it has been the home of a creature that has been reported many, many times. The Altamaha-ha has been sighted basking itself on the shore, trolling casually along the river in plain sight of eyewitnesses, and even reacted defensively to the presence of boaters.
Perhaps I should begin with a brief description of the river itself. The second largest river basin in the United States, second only to the Mississippi, it extends some 137 miles before joining up with its three major tributaries. These include the confluence of the Ocmulgee and Oconee rivers near Lumberton City, and joined further downriver by the Ohoopee. Where it empties out into Altamaha Sound above Brunswick, it is joined by the Darien, Butler and Champney rivers.
All of these tributaries and secondary rivers have reported sightings of the creature also known as the Alty. The Altamaha is home to over 50,000 species of migratory and non-migratory birds, as well as manatees, sturgeon and alligators. In fact, it is known as 'The Little Amazon', due to the plethora of wildlife and the diversity of its ecology and topography.
I include this information as a backdrop against which to make my point for the type of creature I believe the majority of lake and river monsters to be. Not that I wish to exclude or dismiss any other possibility, but in the case of the three major lake monsters, the Alty proves a worthwhile case study.
Here is where we began, with regard to Rick's interpretation. Aside from the often-reported dorsal fin, it fits the description with a great degree of accuracy:
What followed, after he and I began to pull our resources and begin to work from opposite ends in our own interpretations, was a collaboration unlike any in which I have ever participated. Too many of the sightings appeared to be composites of other species native or migratory to the area, namely the afore-mentioned alligator, manatee and sturgeon. A fourth contributing factor was the dolphin, which has also been known to make an appearance along the river.
distinguishing characteristics
Here are the characteristics most commonly ascribed the Altamaha-ha, based on sightings:
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Gray, dark brown or green on top; white or yellow on the bottom |
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Large, protruding eyes in a snakelike skull, with a snout |
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Sharp, canine teeth conical in shape, and in some instances recurved, almost like a snake |
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A long neck capable of rising straight up out of the water |
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It makes barking and hissing noises, when approached |
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It is said to have a front set of flippers only, with a bifurcated or horizontal tail |
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It moves with and undulating, up and down motion in the water, often cavorting playfully |
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Ridges extend from the top of the head from the snout to the back, down the length of the neck |
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A low dorsal fin has been reported, sitting between smaller pairs of ridges |
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It often leaves an oil slick in the water in its passing, like a muskrat or beaver |
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Adults are said to be around 20 feet in length, juveniles generally smaller |
the perpetrator
On the surface, this depiction has many of the qualities similar either to some type of cetacean, either an arhaeocete such as the zeuglodon, or a new species of freshwater dolphin. While I had to disagree, based on eyewitness accounts that described something less than a benign, short-necked creature, it did put me on the track to make some startling similarities with other species known to be alternately playful and aggressive.
The characteristics often attributed to the Alty made it almost territorial in nature. Still, I did agree with this assessment on one very important point, and I was determined to pursue it to its logical conclusion.
The Altamaha-ha, whatever else it might be, was not a form of reptile at all. It had to be a form or warm-blooded mammal. For starters, the Altamaha-ha was not only migratory, but made runs upriver as if to birth its young. As with all my research, I had to find an animal, if it did not die out during the Pleistocene at the end of the last Ice age 10,000 years ago, what could it be?
This premise guided me through many of my theoretical scenarios, and almost never failed my hypotheses. I contacted Mr. Spears, who was very open to looking for that middle ground between his reptile and my mammal. In began to do research for just such a beast, then to extrapolate how it might have come to be found in a 21st century river basin of coastal Georgia.
profiles
Beginning with the skull, I acquired from Mr. Spears his artist's conception of what the skull may look like, based on his interpretation of the head of the creature. What I attempted to do was to collect known photographs of the articulated skeleton of the Miocene creature that was the staple of the diet of the 70 foot, prehistoric Great White Megalodon Carcharodon.
As you can see below, the skull of his Alty and my proposed ice age survivor were eerily similar.
Every attribute proposed by his rendering had a match in the skull of the creature, accounting for the long snout, sharp teeth, sockets for large eyes and even the bony ridge described as an essential characteristic of the creature. The one remaining trait that always troubled me regarding the depiction of the beast I was considering for the species of the Alty, was that it was always shone with a thick, full coat of fur.
I asked Rick to see what he could do with an outline over the articulated skeleton on display in one of our nation's most distinguished museums of natural history. I wanted to see what this particular specimen would like like if it was tapered down, more streamlined. The results gave me the animal that has found its way into my third novel:
solving the case
Again, I won't divulge the actual species, as in the seemingly infinite variety of cryptid lake monsters, almost anything is seen as a fitting real or unreal explanation. My theory would only serve to give away an important aspect of the story behind "Wake of the Lake Monster". Suffice it to say that for many, if not most of the cryptid lake monsters, are in my estimations neither primitive whales or aquatic dinosaurs, and eels are just too unsupportable, in light of their above water persona.
It is my belief that we are dealing with the surviving cousin of the most prehistoric mammals ever to leave the land for the sea. It fits all of the basic criteria, especially those in which the creature is seen up close. It is a mammal we are seeing out there, in the depth of Loch Ness, Lake Okanagan and Lake Champlain. One that has smaller cousins living today, and one even that resembles it in miniature - at 12 feet. In this case, I leave it to you to do your own investigation, and let me know what you find out.
As in the instance of so many others I have had the pleasure of pursuing, you will be pleasantly surprised when the evidence fits the facts, and the unlikely candidate for Nessie's children shows itself to you...