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Lake monster is the name given to large unknown animals which have purportedly been sighted in, and/or are believed to dwell in lakes, although their existence has never been confirmed scientifically. They are generally believed not to exist by conventional Zoology and allied sciences, and are principally the subject of investigations by followers of Cryptozoology. Sightings are often similar to some sea monsters.

The most famous lake monster is certainly the Loch Ness Monster, which for many decades has been reported to inhabit Loch Ness in Scotland. In more recent years, similar animals have been widely reported, such as Ogopogo in Okanagan Lake in the heart of British Columbia; Manipogo in Lake Manitoba, and Champ in Lake Champlain.

Other locations which have been claimed as homes for lake monsters are Bear Lake (Idaho/Utah), a large, very deep lake with sightings as early as 1850. Flathead Lake in Montana, Lake Tianchi in China, Bala Lake in Wales, the White River in Alabama. Fulk's Lake near Churubusco, Indiana is said to be home to the Beast of Busco. The world's deepest lake, Lake Baikal in Siberia has also been cited as a monster's home, although Lake Brosno is a more popular Russian location. Storsjön in Jemtia, Sweden has been said to house Storsjöodjuret. The bodies of water that make up the Lake District in the Patagonia region of Chile and Argentina, also in a mountainous region on both sides of the Andes range, are supposed to be interconnected under the surface. The lake monster in this region is also known as the nahuelito or cuero, and has been sighted in many different lakes in the region.

All these lakes have something in common, that they are extraordinarily deep. Interestingly all these lakes are situated in areas of cold climate.

Evidence for such animals is almost exclusively in the form of frequently-numerous eyewitness reports. Relatively few still photographs, almost no motion picture or videotapes, and no living animals or animal remains have been produced. Such photographic/film/video evidence as has been produced has, upon close analysis, been concluded by the majority of mainstream scientists (and many cryptozoologists) to be inconclusive at best, and more often to be misidentified, known phenomena or else outright hoaxes. Reported sightings commonly describe either a hump or series of humps, an extremely long neck with a visible head, or both, rising from, swimming about in, and/or disappearing into the water. Reports of such animals being seen on land are rare.

There are many speculations as to what the reported lake monsters could be. Many consider them to be purely exaggerations or misinterpretations of known and natural phenomena, or else fabrications and hoaxes. Misidentified sightings of seals, otters, deer, diving water birds, large fish such as giant sturgeons, logs, mirages, seiches, light distortion, crossing boat wakes, or unusual wave patterns have all been proposed to explain specific reports.

Other widely varied theories have been presented by believers, including unknown species of giant freshwater eels or surviving water dinosaurs, such as pleisiosaurs. One theory holds that the monsters that are sighted are the occasional full-grown form of an amphibian species that generally stays juvenile all its life like the axolotl. A few have suggested the animals actually represent some sort of psychic phenomena. More reasonably, the first true cryptozoologist Bernard Heuvelmans held throughout his life that pleisiosaur-type sighting were actually an unknown species of long-necked seal.

In many of these areas, especially around Loch Ness, Lake Champlain and the Okanagan Valley, these lake monsters have become important tourist draws.

Edit: 11-18-05 - The first sighter of the Loch Ness Monster died recently, and he admitted that the monster was a cardboard cutout and photographed to look as if the monster was real.

Lakes in which monsters are said to be

• Loch Ness (Scotland)
• Loch Morar (Scotland)
• Lough Keane (Ireland)
• Lough Ree (Ireland)
• Lough Muck (Ireland)
• Bala Lake (Wales)
• Storsjön (Sweden)
• Lake Baikal (Siberia)
• Lake Brosno (Russia)
• Okanagan Lake (Canada)
• Lake Champlain (USA/Canada)
• Kleifarvatn (Iceland)
• Bear Lake (Idaho/Utah) (USA)
• Lake Menbu (China)
• Lake Kenas/Lake Kanas (Xinjiang/Uighurstan, PRC)
• Flathead Lake (Montana/USA)
• Fulk's Lake (USA)
• Lake Simcoe (Toronto/Canada)
• Lake Manitoba (Manitoba/Canada)
• Faymouth Ency (Cornwall/England)
• Lake Mjøsa (Norway)
• Seljordsvatnet (Norway)
• Lake Tahoe (USA)
• Lake Tianchi (China)
• Lake Van (Turkey)
• Lago Nahuel Huapi (Argentina)
• Lago Las Rocas (Chile)

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