Lake & Sea Monsters

LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1933

Loch Ness Monster

Loch Ness, near Inverness, Scottish Highlands

Scotland’s long-necked lake monster, reported in Loch Ness since 1933 – the world’s most famous cryptid, most searched-for loch and best-known hoax.

WIDELY REPORTED LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1819

Champ

Lake Champlain, New York–Vermont border

A long-necked monster said to live in Lake Champlain, made famous by Sandra Mansi’s 1977 photo and protected by local and state resolutions in the 1980s.

REGIONAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · Pre-colonial

Ogopogo

Okanagan Lake, British Columbia

Canada’s most famous lake monster: a long, humped serpent said to swim Okanagan Lake, rooted in the Syilx being nx̌aʔx̌ʔitkʷ, spirit of the lake.

WIDELY REPORTED NO PHOTO ON FILE LAKE & SEA MONSTER · Pre-colonial

Bunyip

Billabongs, swamps and rivers of south-eastern Australia

The water spirit of Aboriginal tradition said to lurk in billabongs and swamps – turned by colonial newspapers into Australia’s first great monster story.

FOLKLORE LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1444

Kappa

Rivers, ponds and marshes throughout Japan

Japan’s child-sized river imp, with a water-filled dish on its head and a love of cucumbers and sumo – once feared for drownings, now a beloved mascot.

FOLKLORE LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1868

Bear Lake Monster

Bear Lake, on the Utah–Idaho border

A serpent-like monster said to swim Bear Lake on the Utah–Idaho line, born of an 1868 newspaper story its own author later called a lie.

REGIONAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1865

Tahoe Tessie

Lake Tahoe, California–Nevada border

A humped, serpent-like monster said to glide through the deep, cold water of Lake Tahoe – the Sierra Nevada’s friendly answer to Nessie.

REGIONAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1943

Chessie

Chesapeake Bay and its tidal rivers, Maryland and Virginia

A long, dark, serpent-like animal reported in the Chesapeake Bay since the mid-20th century, famously caught on a blurry 1982 home video off Kent Island.

REGIONAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · Pre-colonial

Taniwha

Rivers, lakes, harbours and coastal waters of Aotearoa New Zealand

Powerful water beings of Māori tradition – guardians to some iwi, man-eaters in other tales – said to dwell in deep pools, caves and harbour mouths.

FOLKLORE LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1915

White River Monster

White River near Newport, Arkansas

“Whitey,” a gray, elephant-skinned giant of the White River near Newport, Arkansas – so famous that the state legislature gave it a legal refuge in 1973.

REGIONAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1779

Cassie

Casco Bay, off Portland and Cape Elizabeth, Maine

Maine’s great sea serpent: a long, snakelike animal reported in and around Casco Bay since the 18th century, last famously seen off Cape Elizabeth in 1958.

REGIONAL LEGEND NO PHOTO ON FILE LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1903

Lake Tianchi Monster

Heaven Lake (Tianchi), Changbai Mountain, Jilin

Dark shapes and seal-like heads reported in Heaven Lake, the deep volcanic crater lake on Changbai Mountain at the China–North Korea border.

REGIONAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1838

Lake Manitou Monster

Lake Manitou, Rochester, Indiana

A spotted, serpent-necked lake creature reported at Rochester, Indiana, in 1838 – a story mixing Potawatomi tradition with frontier newspaper humor.

LOCAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1830

Altamaha-ha

Mouth of the Altamaha River, near Darien, Georgia

“Altie,” the sea serpent of coastal Georgia, said to swim the marshes and old rice canals at the mouth of the Altamaha River near Darien.

REGIONAL LEGEND NO PHOTO ON FILE LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1980

Lake Kanas Monster

Kanas Lake, Altay Prefecture, Xinjiang

Huge red shapes said to haunt Kanas Lake in Xinjiang’s Altai Mountains – a legend most scientists now credit to giant taimen, the world’s largest salmon.

REGIONAL LEGEND NO PHOTO ON FILE LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1816

Memphré

Lake Memphremagog, Magog (Quebec) to Newport (Vermont)

The horse-headed serpent of Lake Memphremagog, a border lake shared by Quebec and Vermont, reported since 1816 and adopted as Magog’s friendly mascot.

REGIONAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1752

Kraken

Norwegian Sea, off the coast of Norway

The island-sized sea monster of Norwegian fishermen’s lore, made famous by Bishop Pontoppidan in 1752 – and probably inspired by the giant squid.

FOLKLORE LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1944

Pend Oreille Paddler

Lake Pend Oreille, North Idaho

A dark, wake-making shape in Idaho’s deepest lake – a monster often blamed on giant fish, hoaxers, and the Navy’s secret submarine tests.

LOCAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1345

Lagarfljót Worm

Lagarfljót lake, near Egilsstaðir, East Iceland

Iceland’s glacial-lake serpent, recorded since 1345 and made famous by a 2012 farmhouse video that a local “truth committee” later endorsed.

REGIONAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1889

Flathead Lake Monster

Flathead Lake, northwestern Montana

An eel-like giant said to swim in Flathead Lake, the West’s largest natural freshwater lake, reported since a steamboat sighting in 1889.

REGIONAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1635

Storsjöodjuret

Lake Storsjön, Östersund, Jämtland

Sweden’s Great Lake Monster, a dog- or cat-headed serpent said to swim Storsjön – once hunted with a royal-backed trap and even legally protected.

REGIONAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1933

Cadborosaurus

Cadboro Bay and the Salish Sea, off Victoria, British Columbia

“Caddy,” the horse-headed sea serpent of British Columbia’s coast, named in 1933 after Victoria’s Cadboro Bay and still reported in the Salish Sea.

WIDELY REPORTED LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1942

Iliamna Lake Monster

Iliamna Lake, southwest Alaska

“Illie,” a giant fish-like creature reported by bush pilots and villagers in Iliamna Lake, Alaska’s largest lake, since the 1940s.

REGIONAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1978

Issie

Lake Ikeda, Ibusuki, Kagoshima

The “Nessie” of southern Kyushu, seen as dark humps in Lake Ikeda, a deep volcanic crater lake that really is home to enormous eels nearly two meters long.

REGIONAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1920

Sharlie

Payette Lake, McCall, Idaho

The humped “Twilight Dragon” of Payette Lake in McCall, Idaho – reported since 1920 and named Sharlie in a 1954 newspaper contest.

REGIONAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1817

Gloucester Sea Serpent

Gloucester Harbor and Cape Ann, Massachusetts

A huge, humped serpent that hundreds said swam in Gloucester Harbor in August 1817 – so convincing that a scientific society named it a new species.

REGIONAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1910

Nahuelito

Nahuel Huapi Lake, Bariloche, Patagonia

Argentina’s own Nessie, a humped serpent said to swim glacial Nahuel Huapi Lake near Bariloche, sparking a famous 1922 “plesiosaur hunt.”

REGIONAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1972

Kussie

Lake Kussharo, Teshikaga, eastern Hokkaido

Hokkaido’s answer to Nessie: a humped creature reported in Lake Kussharo, Japan’s largest caldera lake, during a wave of sightings in the 1970s.

REGIONAL LEGEND NO PHOTO ON FILE LAKE & SEA MONSTER · Pre-colonial

Inkanyamba

Pool below Howick Falls (KwaNogqaza), uMngeni River, KwaZulu-Natal

The great storm-serpent of Zulu and Xhosa belief, said to live in the pool beneath KwaZulu-Natal’s Howick Falls and to ride the summer tornadoes.

REGIONAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1823

Igopogo

Lake Simcoe, Ontario

Ontario’s answer to Ogopogo: a grey, dog-faced creature reported in Lake Simcoe since settler days, honoured by a sea-serpent sculpture in Barrie.

LOCAL LEGEND NO PHOTO ON FILE LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1894

Devils Lake Serpent

Devils Lake, northeastern North Dakota

A horned, alligator-jawed serpent said to rise from Devils Lake, North Dakota, rooted in Dakota tradition and promoted by 1890s–1910s newspapers.

LOCAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1868

Walker Lake Serpent

Walker Lake, near Hawthorne, Nevada

A giant serpent said to live in Walker Lake, Nevada, rooted in Paiute tradition and frontier tall tales, now beloved as “Cecil” in Hawthorne parades.

LOCAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · c. 1350

Afanc

Llyn yr Afanc on the River Conwy and Glaslyn, Snowdonia

Wales’s legendary lake monster, a flood-causing beast dragged out of a River Conwy pool by oxen and exiled to a lake high on Snowdon.

FOLKLORE LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1987

Oklahoma Octopus

Lakes Thunderbird, Tenkiller and Oologah, Oklahoma

A horse-sized freshwater octopus said to drag swimmers to their deaths in Oklahoma’s reservoirs – a legend largely built by books and a 2009 TV show.

HOAX / DEBUNKED LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1684

Dobhar-chú

Glenade Lough, County Leitrim

Ireland’s “water hound”: a giant otter-like beast said to have killed Grace Connolly at Glenade Lough in 1722 – a tale tied to a carved local gravestone.

REGIONAL LEGEND NO PHOTO ON FILE LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1934

Colossal Claude

Mouth of the Columbia River, near Astoria, Oregon

A long-necked sea serpent reported by lightship and fishing crews at the mouth of the Columbia River between 1934 and 1939, nicknamed Colossal Claude.

LOCAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1963

Lake Norman Monster

Lake Norman, north of Charlotte, North Carolina

“Normie,” a whiskered, finned serpent-fish said to swim in Lake Norman, the huge reservoir north of Charlotte created by Cowans Ford Dam in 1963.

LOCAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1941

Zwaanendael Merman

Zwaanendael Museum, Lewes, Delaware

A shriveled, foot-long “merman” brought to Lewes by a sea captain – a 19th-century Asian sideshow curiosity the town loved too much to let go.

HOAX / DEBUNKED NO PHOTO ON FILE LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1899

Seneca Lake Serpent

Seneca Lake, Finger Lakes, New York

A toothy serpent said to have been rammed and killed by a Finger Lakes steamboat in July 1899, only for its body to slip away into 600 feet of water.

LOCAL LEGEND NO PHOTO ON FILE LAKE & SEA MONSTER · Pre-colonial

Ahuizotl

Lakes of the Valley of Mexico

An Aztec water creature like a small black dog with a hand at the tip of its tail, said to cry like a baby and drag people into deep water.

FOLKLORE LAKE & SEA MONSTER · Pre-1759

Kelpie

Rivers and lochs throughout Scotland

The shape-shifting water horse of Scottish folklore, luring riders into lochs and rivers – honoured today by the giant Kelpies sculptures at Falkirk.

FOLKLORE LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1887

Morag

Loch Morar, near Mallaig, Lochaber

Nessie’s lesser-known cousin, said to haunt Loch Morar – Britain’s deepest lake – and famously reported to have rammed a fishing boat in 1969.

REGIONAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1750

Selma

Lake Seljordsvatnet, Seljord, Telemark

Norway’s best-known lake serpent, said since 1750 to swim the narrow lake at Seljord in Telemark, where she now graces the town’s coat of arms.

REGIONAL LEGEND NO PHOTO ON FILE LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 2000s

Ningen

Southern Ocean off Antarctica

A pale, whale-sized humanoid said to haunt Antarctic waters – an internet-age legend born on a Japanese message board and spread by a paranormal magazine.

FOLKLORE LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1952

Sinkhole Sam

Big Sinkhole near Inman, McPherson County, Kansas

A huge worm- or snakelike creature said to swim in the Big Sinkhole near Inman, Kansas, since 1952 – the state’s only homegrown lake monster.

LOCAL LEGEND NO PHOTO ON FILE LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 13th century (legend)

Brosno Dragon

Lake Brosno, near Andreapol, Tver Oblast

The “Russian Loch Ness Monster,” a dragon said to haunt deep Lake Brosno in Tver Oblast, where legend says it once scared off Batu Khan’s army.

LOCAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1867

Pepie

Lake Pepin, Mississippi River (Minnesota–Wisconsin border)

A serpent-like creature said to lurk in Lake Pepin, a broad stretch of the Mississippi River, reported in newspapers since the 1860s.

LOCAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1975

Morgawr

Falmouth Bay and the Helford estuary, Cornwall

Cornwall’s long-necked “sea giant” of Falmouth Bay, made famous by the anonymous “Mary F” photographs of 1976 – widely suspected to be a hoax.

REGIONAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1996

Block Ness Monster

Old Harbor, Block Island (New Shoreham), Rhode Island

A 14-foot serpent-like skeleton netted off Block Island in 1996, put on show, then ‘kidnapped’ from a freezer – most likely a basking shark.

HOAX / DEBUNKED LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1920s

Teggie

Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake), Gwynedd

The crocodile-like monster of Bala Lake, Wales’s largest natural lake – a modern legend that once drew a Japanese film crew with a mini-submarine.

LOCAL LEGEND NO PHOTO ON FILE LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1907

Dingonek

Migori (Maggori) River near Lake Victoria, south-western Kenya

A scaly, leopard-spotted, fanged river monster reported by a hunter on Kenya’s Migori River around 1907 – one of Africa’s strangest tales.

LOCAL LEGEND NO PHOTO ON FILE LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1855

Silver Lake Serpent

Silver Lake, near Perry, Wyoming County, New York

A “horrid” serpent reported by fishermen on Silver Lake, New York, in July 1855 – famously blamed on a hotel owner’s canvas-and-bellows hoax.

HOAX / DEBUNKED LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1903

Okoboji Lake Monster

Okoboji Lakes, Iowa Great Lakes, Dickinson County, Iowa

Nicknamed Obojoki, a giant serpent or fish said to churn the waters of the Okoboji Lakes in northwest Iowa’s resort country since 1903.

LOCAL LEGEND NO PHOTO ON FILE LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 2007

Elephant Butte Giant Catfish

Elephant Butte Dam, Rio Grande, New Mexico

Catfish “as big as a Volkswagen” said to lurk at the foot of Elephant Butte Dam – New Mexico’s take on a classic American divers’ legend.

LOCAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1977

Pressie

Lake Superior, near the Presque Isle River, Michigan

A serpent-like monster said to swim Lake Superior, named for sightings near the Presque Isle River in Michigan’s Porcupine Mountains.

LOCAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1920s

Herrington Lake Monster

Herrington Lake, Mercer, Garrard and Boyle counties, Kentucky

A fast, eel-bodied creature with a pig-like snout said to swim in Herrington Lake, Kentucky’s deepest lake, made famous by a professor in the 1970s.

LOCAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1880s

Lake Kampeska Monster

Lake Kampeska, Watertown, Codington County, South Dakota

A 20-foot scaly serpent with a head the size of a calf that 1880s newspapers said interrupted a picnic on Lake Kampeska, outside Watertown, South Dakota.

LOCAL LEGEND NO PHOTO ON FILE LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1921

Miniwashitu

Missouri River, North Dakota

A one-eyed, red-haired river being said to break the Missouri River’s ice each spring, recorded in North Dakota by ethnobotanist Melvin Gilmore in 1921.

FOLKLORE LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1960

Lough Ree Monster

Lough Ree, on the River Shannon between Athlone and Lanesborough

Ireland’s best-known lake monster, seen by three fishing priests on Lough Ree in May 1960 – a sighting the BBC carried to the world.

LOCAL LEGEND