Lake monster

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A lake monster is a lake-dwelling entity in folklore. The most famous example is
the Loch Ness Monster. Lake monsters' depictions are often similar to sea
monsters.
In the Motif-Index of Folk-Literature, entities classified as "lake monsters", such
as the Scottish Loch Ness Monster, the American Chessie, and the
Swedish Storsjöodjuret under B11.3.1.1. ("dragon lives in lake").[1]

Contents

 1Theories
 2Examples
 3See also
 4References

Theories[edit]
According to the Swedish naturalist and author Bengt Sjögren (1980), present-
day lake monsters are variations of older legends of water kelpies.[2] Sjögren
claims that the accounts of lake-monsters have changed during history, as do
others.[3] Older reports often talk about horse-like appearances, but more modern
reports often have more reptile and dinosaur-like appearances; he concludes that
the legendary kelpies evolved into the present day saurian lake-monsters since
the discovery of dinosaurs and giant aquatic reptiles and the popularization of
them in both scientific and fictional writings and art. [2][4]
The stories cut across cultures, existing in some variation in many countries. [5][6]
[1]
 They've undergone what Michel Meurger calls concretizing (The process of
turning items, drawings, general beliefs and stories into a plausible whole) and
naturalization over time as humanity's view of the world has changed. [3]
In many of these areas, especially around Loch Ness, Lake Champlain and
the Okanagan Valley, these lake monsters have become important tourist draws.
In Ben Radford and Joe Nickell's book Lake Monster Mysteries,[7] the authors
attribute a vast number of sightings to otter misidentifications. Ed Grabianowski
plotted the distribution of North American lake monster sightings. Then he
overlaid the distribution of the common otter and found a near perfect match. It
turns out that three or four otters swimming in a line look remarkably like a
serpentine, humped creature undulating through the water, very easy to mistake
for a single creature if you see them from a distance. "This isn't speculation. I'm
not making this up," Nickell said. "I've spoken to people who saw what they
thought was a lake monster, got closer and discovered it was actually a line of
otters. That really happens."[8] Clearly, not every lake monster sighting can be
accounted for with otters, but it's an excellent example of how our perceptions
can be fooled.[9]
Paul Barrett and Darren Naish note that the existence of any large animals in
isolation (i.e., in a situation where no breeding population exists) is highly
unlikely. Naish also observes that the stories are likely remnants of tales meant
to keep children safely away from the water. [5][1]
There have been many purported sightings of lake monsters, and even some
photographs, but each time these have either been shown to be deliberate
deceptions, such as the Lake George Monster Hoax,[10] or serious doubts about
the veracity and verifiability have arisen, as with the famous Mansi photograph
of Champ.[11]

Examples[edit]
Main article: List of lake monsters
Well-known lake monsters include:

 Nessie, in Loch Ness, Scotland

 Morag, in Loch Morar, Scotland
 Lagarfljót Worm, in Lagarfljót, Iceland
 Ogopogo, in Okanagan Lake, Canada
 Lariosauro, in Lake Como, Italy
 Champ, in Lake Champlain, Canada and US
 Memphre, in Lake Memphremagog, Canada and US
 Bessie, in Lake Erie, Canada and US
 Nahuelito, in Nahuel Huapi Lake, Argentina
 Muyso or Monster of Lake Tota, in Lake Tota, Colombia
 Van Gölü Canavarı or Lake Van Monster, in Lake Van, Turkey
 Inkanyamba, in Howick Falls, South Africa
 Tahoe Tessie, in Lake Tahoe, US
 Flathead Lake Monster, Flathead Lake, Montana, US