Ogopogo (Okanagan Lake)

Over the years the BCSCC has carried out an extensive investigation into what sort of unknown animal inhabits Okanagan Lake in south-central British Columbia as – has been reported by several thousand credible eyewitnesses. Since 1989 the BCSCC has carried out multiple expeditions to Okanagan Lake and members of the investigative team have had several sightings of the mystery animal known commonly as Ogopogo and have also captured the cryptids on camera. The most recent sighting being at 12.20 p.m. on September 24th, 2021 near Okanagan Lake Resort situated on the northwest side of the lake.

This photograph (left) was taken by Ed Fletcher of North Vancouver while on a skiing excursion on the lake with his family. In the space of an hour Fletcher and his companions followed the unidentified around the lake and reportedly sighted the animal a dozen times. Fletcher is adamant that the creature was attracted to his vessel because of electrode emissions emanating from the engine of his motorboat.

BCSCC President John Kirk has also sighted the mystery cryptid almost as frequently over a period of three years from 1987 – 1990 and then again in 2021 and 2022, but the record belongs to Jake Heppner who has reportedly had sightings in the dozens over a 40 year period and a local native inhabitant known only as “Joe” who has also encountered Ogopogo on many occasions in his 80+ plus years of life.

Fletcher, Kirk and Heppner are among thousands who have sighted an animal they have variously described as serpentine; with a horse or sheep-like head; black or dark green in colour; able to appear in the shape of logs and in the form of humps – single or many, coiled or arched or like some great snake. Measuring in length from 12 to over 70 feet long, Ogopogos have been seen as individuals or in groups of as many as fifteen animals at a time.

The natives believed in a lake spirit named N’ha-ha-itk which is of interior Salish Syilx first nation origin. The local natives have a long oral tradition of the animal and it has been suggested by settler authors as always being careful to never to venture on the lake without some small animal they could throw to the animal in event that the monster might attack the canoe. The First Nations have disavowed this suggestion. Petroglyphs in the Powers Creek area show a serpentine animal which one can safely say represents Ogopogo. Other petroglyphs once adorned rock outcroppings on the lake front, but have since been difficult to locate.

Arthur Folden of Chase, B.C. was the first to have filmed the creature in 1968 (ringed left). His film, which has appeared on Arthur C. Clarke’s Mysterious World, clearly shows a huge creature breaking the surface of Okanagan Lake, much as a submarine would. It is in the region of 70 feet long and dwarfs the pine trees in the foreground of the film. Folden’s film is strong evidence that Ogopogo is not merely an optical illusion caused by wind, waves or known animals and identifiable objects on the water. In addition to Folden, Larry Thal (1981), Eugene Boiselle (1982), Dr Rod Simmons (1989), Paul DeMara (1993) and John Kirk (1987,1989), Blake Neudorf (2018) and David Halbauer (2018) have all obtained video footage of an unusual animal ploughing through the waters.

In 1989, a car salesman claimed to have shot the clearest footage of Ogopogo to date, and on first inspection to a limited audience it appeared he had. However, subsequent analysis by fish and game officials and various members of the scientific fraternity revealed the animal to be either a beaver or an otter. For two months Kelowna, the largest city on the shores of Okanagan Lake, was ablaze with excitement as the salesman offered to sell his videotape to the highest bidder. After spending nearly all of his money on the project, the salesman sold his footage to the American television program Unsolved Mysteries for a rumoured US$30,000.

Ogopogo appearances have been sporadic for most of the 21st century and it is feared that greater encroachment on its habitat by an ever-increasing human population is driving the animals to extinction. Further fears for the creatures’ safety were raised in the summer of 1996 when it was announced that powerboat races would be held off Kelowna. Fortunately, there have been no reports of Ogopogo collisions with racing boats in the three years of racing on the lake. It seems the creatures had the good sense to avoid humans careening around one of Ogopogo’s favourite parts of its local pond.

The proliferation of non-indigenous Eurasian milfoil has not seemingly affected the creatures and may actually be a food source for animals who caloric intake has to be huge to sustain animal of such size. There is a large population of coarse fish, kokanee, Japanese carp and ling cod in the lake. Introduced freshwater shrimp – Mysis relicta – are also present in the lake. In 1989 John Kirk and James Clark of the BCSCC discovered a huge number of semi-digested shrimp suspended in some kind of liquid secretion floating of Rattlesnake Island. Samples were collected and sent to the University of British Columbia for analysis. The sample was lost at a lab at the university and the secretions were never identified. There no other apex predators in the lake so Ogopogo animals have the food sources to themselves. It has been reported that Ogopogo was seen snatching a seagull some 14 feet above the surface of the lake and it is alleged the animals are responsible for the drowning of two horses belonging to John McDougall circa 1854.

The first settlers to have seen the creature were Mrs Susan Allison and Thomas Smitheram who both witnessed the same animal from opposite sides of the lake during a storm in 1872. It was observed to have been swimming against the waves during a furious storm and estimated to have been about 70 feet long.

Ogopogo, like the Lake Champlain creature enjoyed protected wildlife status as a result of legislation enacted by the Province of British Columbia in 1989. It was illegal to harm, kill, capture or disturb the creature and is one of the most enlightened pieces of legislation ever written in the defence and protection of endangered animals. However, in 2001 the Liberal government of BC rescinded the protection order when it was discovered that there may have been gold deposits in the lake. Current BC legislation still protects Ogopogo from being hunted with projectiles and explosives, leaving the only legitimate method of capture permissible to be hook and line. Three competitions with monetary rewards designed to gather evidence of Ogopogo have failed to yield a single specimen live or dead.

The heads of the various animals observed have been described as sheep, camel, horse and reptile-like. This may be due to sexual dimorphism and the particular maturity of the individual animal observed. Witnesses have described seeing the legs of the animals on a number of occasions. Unknown foot prints have been found several times on the shore of Okanagan Lake and there exists a photograph of some of these prints found on a beach in Kelowna in 1949. The prints consisted of four toes and a pad like area on each foot. Whatever made the prints was definitely quadrupedal. A twenty minute long sighting involving Jim, Frank and Orry Reiger as their boat followed alongside the creature revealed details as to its method of propulsion. The animal swam in an undulating fashion, kicking with its legs and lashing the water with its tail. The animal kept its head underwater for the duration of the sighting, but the Reigers could see a long neck attached to the body of the animal which had a huge girth.

Suggested reading on the subject includes:

In Search of Ogopogo is a profusely-illustrated and fascinating account of the sightings and witnesses of the mystery denizen of Okanagan Lake.

Arlene Gaal has penned an excellent account of the search for Canada’s most famous aquatic cryptid, including a comprehensive sightings list that gives the reader a very clear picture of what the Ogopogo looks like.

This volume is on the BCSCC list of recommended reading. Available from http://www.hancockhouse.com/products/seaogo.htm

• In The Domain of the Lake Monsters by John Kirk

• Ogopogo – The Million Dollar Lake Monster by Arlene Gaal, Hancock House

• Ogopogo by Mary Moon, J.J. Douglas.