Ogopogo: the Lake Okanagan Monster

INVESTIGATIVE FILES JOE NICKELL Ogopogo: The Lake Okanagan Monster mong the world’s lakes three times the length of Loch reputed to host a great Ness and, at a maximum depth Aunknown creature is of 762 feet,1 slightly deeper as Lake Okanagan in the Canadian well. Formed from an ancient province of British Columbia. valley, it was filled by waters Known as Ogopogo, the leviathan from glacial melting which was is said to be “one of the most thor- complete about 10,000 years oughly documented unidentified ago (Roed 2005). lake creatures,” second only to Okanagan is only one of Scotland’s Nessie, and “possibly many Canadian lakes reputed the most famous North American to provide a home to levia- monster aside from Bigfoot” thans. At least thirty-nine of the (Blackman 1998, 69). Noting lakes in British Columbia alone that Ogopogo has been dubbed reputedly have such “aquatic Canada’s Loch Ness Monster, anomalies,” according to John cryptozoologist John Kirk (1998, Kirk, author of In the Domain 4) counters that the description of the Lake Monsters. However, ought to be the reverse: “Since he singles out Okanagan as “the the appearances of the Canadian lake of mystery” (Kirk 1998, beast predated those of its Scottish 28, 11). cousin, it ought to be said that The scenic lake rarely freezes Nessie is Scotland’s Ogopogo.” over—only about four times in But does such a monster the twentieth century (Okan- exist? Benjamin Radford and I agan 2005a)—and it is famous have long been interested in the Figure 1. Map of Lake Okanagan illustrates selected sites. for its sandy beaches, campsites, alleged Okanagan Lake denizen, and resorts. Fishing charters and we resolved to look into the 41.) promise “big fish,” which in- mystery. As luck would have it, National The Monster’s Lair clude rainbow trout and kokanee (Okan- Geographic Television was also inter- agan 2005b). Okanagan Lake is within ested. (Ben’s analysis of the Ogopogo Okanagan is the largest of a group of five the range of such aquatic mammals as phenomena appears in this issue, page interconnected lakes in the Okanagan beaver, muskrats, and otters (Whitaker Valley of south-central British Columbia. Joe Nickell, CSICOP’s Senior Research 1996), and waterfowl including ducks, Named for the local forest-dwelling mallards, geese, and many others (Bull Fellow, has investigated paranormal claims Native Americans, the Okanagan people, worldwide for more than three decades. and Ferrand 1994). Some of these crea- the narrow fresh-water lake stretches for tures might provide food for a giant lake His recent books include The Mystery some seventy-nine miles from its southern Chronicles and Secrets of the Sideshows. creature, if such indeed existed. extremity at Penticton to its northern tip According to folklore attributed to near Vernon (see figure 1). It is thus over 16 Volume 29, Issue 6 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER the native culture, the monster was a demonic entity called N’ha-a-itk, and its home was Rattlesnake Island or a cave beneath it or adjacent to Squally Point (Gaal 2001, 113, 122–123; Kirk 1998, 47). The arrival of white settlers contin- ued to spark interest in the Okanagan monster though not always with high seriousness. The palindromic name Ogopogo2 came from a 1924 music-hall song. Titled “The Ogo-Pogo: The Funny Fox- Trot,” the song was about a banjo-play- ing water-being from Hindustan (Shuker 1995, 100). It was performed at a lun- cheon in Vernon, B.C., on August 23, 1926. As a result of the catchy song— according to an account I discovered at the library in Kelowna—“the guests left Figure 2. Divers with the National Geographic Television expedition search for caves beneath Rattlesnake Island. the Kalamalka Hotel to spread the fame of Ogopogo far and wide” (Brimble- combe 1930).3 The Ogie Expedition National Geographic Television (NGTV) invited the two of us on an expedition to Lake Okanagan—a week’s quest to find the fabled creature, or to explain the monster phenomenon. Apart from travel, we spent more than four days on site, investigating the mystery: interviewing eyewitnesses and studying photographic evidence; conducting historical and other research (much of it in advance of the expedition); performing an experiment regarding one recorded sighting; and tra- versing the lake and its shores by foot, auto, sonar-equipped boat (with profes- Figure 3. Side-scanning sonar search of a portion of the lake revealed no leviathan. sional divers on board!), and seaplane. Accompanying us for much of this the Grand Okanagan Lakefront Resort home to Ogopogo (figure 2), while Ben, grueling work was Canadian cryptozo- (where we roomed). We were loaded for John Kirk, and I motorboated to the ologist John Kirk. We were also assisted monster hunting: In addition to the TV island and scrambled onto the rocks. by Arlene Gaal, whose book In Search of crew of four, were the two of us and John These searches yielded only underwater Ogopogo was never far from our fingertips. Kirk, as well as the boat pilot and his fissures too small for a leviathan and an In her home in Kelowna, she made avail- relief, two men in charge of sonar, and island devoid of bones or other traces of able for study many of the photographs, a diving crew of three—some thirteen Ogopogo’s supposed prey. films, and videos that purport to depict men and one woman (Brook Holston Darryl Bondura searched the depths Ogopogo. Our relationship with these of NGTV) plus an impressive amount with side-scanning sonar, which also turned two monster hunters was so respectful of gear and equipment. We also towed a up nothing of significance (figure 3). He and cordial that NGTV producer Noel motorboat, which served many practical says he has scanned several square miles of Dockstader seemed to wish for more uses, including filming, and was available Okanagan’s bottom—once identifying an sparks between us. in case of any mishap. ultralight plane at about 100 feet deep— The second full day of our expe- We covered much of the southern but has never seen a large lake denizen or dition—Saturday, February 5, 2005— half of the lake, giving special attention to even the skeleton of one (Bondura 2005). was the most exhausting. After an early Rattlesnake Island (a.k.a. Monster Island) Two days later, Ben and I flew over the breakfast, we boarded a houseboat at and its environs. Two divers went down same area in a seaplane (figure 4) scouring to search for the caves that are legendarily the waters for any sign of Ogopogo. SKEPTICAL INQUIRER January / February 2006 17 of Ogopogo, whereas they actually seem quite varied. For example, the color ranges from light to dark green, dark brown, brown- black, blackish gray, to jet black; at least one source mentioned a white underside, and the skin was smooth, snakelike, or shiny. The height out of the water is vari- ously stated as in the three- to seven-foot range, with estimates of up to fifteen feet. The length is exceedingly variable, and includes small creatures dubbed “Ogo- pups” and larger animals of some eight to seventy feet long. The head has been likened to that of a snake, sheep, cow, deer, or horse, with protrusions said to Figure 4. Rattlesnake Island is viewed from a seaplane. Photos by Joe Nickell. be horns or ears, and with beady eyes and whiskers. The body is said to resemble Despite the excellent viewing the plane the “Chronology” to Gaal’s In Search a log or great snake, featuring “saw- allowed, Ogie was still a no-show. of Ogopogo (2001, 185–208). Mentally, edged coils” or one to several humps. Much of our assessment of the I rounded up the usual suspects: wake Appendages reportedly include various Ogopogo phenomenon thus necessar- effects, bobbing logs, beavers, otters, fins, or flippers or webbed feet; some- ily depended on the reports of eyewit- schools of fish, and many others. times it has a forked tail. The creature’s nesses—including Gaal and Kirk. We Although sturgeon represented a proba- movement is often described as “undu- also analyzed the numerous sightings ble candidate for some Lake Champlain lating,” but it frolicks, splashes, swims chronicled in Gaal (2001, 185–208), and sightings, at Okanagan their presence has rapidly, slaps the water with its tail, and we studied original photographs and film not been established; indeed, rewards of so on (Gaal 2001, 185–208). and video footage. up to $10,000 have failed to produce a It seems extremely unlikely that eye- single sturgeon (Gaal 2001, 19). witnesses were seeing a single type of The Sightings Since Mrs. Susan Allison’s sighting of creature—let alone that it was a plesio- In preparing for the trip to Okanagan, 1872—the first by a white settler—eye- saur, zeuglodon, basilosaurus, or other I studied the approximately 330 eye- witness reports of Ogopogo have prolif- extinct or unknown creature. However, witness sightings—ranging from the erated. Blackman (1998, 69) and others by picking out some of the more common eighteenth century to 2001—listed in overstate the uniformity of descriptions features and allowing for misperceptions and exaggerations, I was able to produce a composite drawing of Ogopogo (figure 5) and show its similarity to the otter—actually otters, swimming in a line (figure 6). As with other lake monster habitats around the world, Lake Okanagan coincides with the habitat of otters, in this case the Northern River Otter, Lutra canadensis, as shown in the National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mammals (Whitaker 1996, 782–785).

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