31 Days of Monsters: Ogopogo

It seems whenever there is a new fad, you alway quickly get knock-offs, copies, and imitations as everyone tries to have, get, or be the new trend on the block. For a while, it seemed that everyone was trying to claim to have their very own lake monster, despite some people not even having a lake.

Name: Ogopogo

Size: 40 - 50 feet long.

Appearance: This would be the typical sea serpent. A long, serpentine body, with fins, several humps or coils which stick out of the water, as well as a head which reportedly resembles a horse.

Threat: Low. Among all the sightings, none mention the creature attacking or making threatening gestures towards people.

Hundreds or even thousands of lakes around the world have had reports of monsters living in them in the past twenty or thirty years. This one hails from Lake Okanagan in British Columbia, Canada. Ogopogo is one of the more well-known lake monsters, though its popularity never peaked in the same way the Loch Ness Monster's has.

The native tribes that live on the lake have told stories of the creature dating back into the 1800's. The first modern-day sighting though, was in 1926 when traffic on a road next to the lake completely stopped and no less than 30 cars of people claimed to have seen a large, unidentified animal in the water. All the witnesses described the same creature when asked about it.

The name of the creature was originally Naitaka, a name given it by one of the local native american tribes. However, for reasons unknown, the creature started to be called Ogopogo, a name taken from an English song written in 1924.

Sightings of Ogopogo are infrequent, but there are usually one or two a year. Interest in the creature has been enough to spur shows like Monsterquest and Destination Truth to devote an episode to searching for the creature. Some with negligible results, while others turn up some surprising information. It has also been referenced in an episode of The X-Files, the National Geographic series Is It Real?, and even The Venture Brothers.

Due, perhaps, to Ogopogo's rather tame nature, or to the fact that it is so specific in its location, there aren't really any books or movies specifically about the creature. Probably the most well-known lake monster movie is the oldie The Crater Lake Monster. Other titles though that you can look up, which may or may not be similar to the Ogopogo creature are Creature from Black Lake, Serpent Lake, and the ever popular Lake Placid.

So something to keep in mind, you don't have to be out in the ocean, to be unaware of what could be swimming around just underneath your feet. Just ask Jeremy Wade. 

~ Shaun