8. Champ
Aside from the Great Lakes, Lake Champlain is the largest body of water in the US. It is about 109 miles long and, at its widest point measures about 13 miles wide. At its deepest points, the lake stretches down some 121 metres (400 feet). To put that in perspective, Scotlands famous Loch Ness, also purportedly home to a famous monster, is only 22.5 miles long and 1.7 miles wide, but it is deeper at about 213 metres (700 feet). Both lakes would be deep enough to submerge the Statue of Liberty twice over. The Lake Champlain monster, known informally as Champ, is usually depicted as being a traditional sea serpent, with an appearance generally comparable to that of other supposed lake monsters (and thus continuing a tradition of myth that likely began in ancient Ireland). However, as with all eyewitness accounts of strange phenomena, interpretations can vary. French explorer Samuel de Champlain - the lakes namesake first described an eerie creature in the lake as far back as 1609, although modern research indicates that he was probably referring to a sturgeon. However, around the beginning of the 18th century, when the area around the lake began to be heavily settled, sightings of the strange beast became commonplace. The creature was still being regularly reported a century later, this time as steamboats traversed the great body of water, allowing onlookers a better vantage point from which to catch a glimpse of the alleged monster. It is tempting to seek a sociological reason for the rise in Champ sightings from 1810 onwards, as some 150,000 settlers made the lake their home during just a few short years. These people came to live at the lakeside from all over America, Europe and the rest of the world and tales of lake monsters (common in European folklore and mythology) would have acted as a binding agent of sorts, allowing settlers to better relate to and interact with one another in this unforgiving new environment. Similar sociological theories have been ascribed to the more recent Chupacabre sightings in Latin American communities across the United States. One might even assume that the repeated monster sightings, which continued throughout the 19th century, into the 20th century and right up until the present day, are simply the result of a folkloric tradition and little else. Indeed, like his cousin Nessie, Champ is a massive revenue boost to the local area, with tourists always eager to get a glimpse (or better yet, a photograph) of the beast.
Sometimes, however, visitors to the lake get more than they bargained for. In 1977, amateur photographer Sandra Mansi snapped what would become the most famous photograph of Champ (comparable to the infamous surgeons photograph of Nessie). Other photographs have been taken, but are predictably unreliable. However, Mansis photograph, which appears to show a head, a long, curved neck and part of a back, served as the best evidence yet that an un-described creature lurked in the depths of lake Champlain. ...Until 2003, that is, when the Fauna Communications Research Institute, captured Champ (or something else equally unknown) on record. The recording consists of echolocation, the kind used by whales and dolphins to communicate with one another and locate prey items. These eerie sounds were recorded in three different parts of the lake, a lake that has no known whales or dolphins of any kind. Dolphins have been known to live in rivers; in fact, there are four families of freshwater dolphin known to science (with one subspecies, the Chinese Baiji, declared extinct in 2006). Dolphins live in the Amazon River, they live in the Ganges and they live in the Orinoco...Could they also inhabit Lake Champlain? The main problem with this theory is that dolphins are air-breathing mammals, which means that they need to visit the surface regularly in order to survive. If Champ were an unknown type of river dolphin, he would surely have been discovered by now. This creates a second problem, because only mammals can echolocate. In addition, Champ sightings do not typically describe anything even remotely whale or dolphin like (with the one possible exception of Basilosaurus, a prehistoric whale with a long, thin body but Basilosaurus would not have been capable of echolocation of the kind recorded by the team). Could Champ be a completely unique creature? A large, predatory fish or eel that naturally inhabits deep water and can echolocate? Is this a way that the creature can hunt for prey in the murky depths of the lake? Before Champlain himself, (as well as the thousands of other sightings, Mansis photograph, the echolocation recordings and some 2005 footage shot by fishermen), indigenous people shared stories and legends about a fearsome monster that inhabited the lake. Coincidence?