Skip to main content

Champ

The Mansi Photograph of Champ
We've all heard about the Loch Ness Monster, but what about some of the other, similar sea creatures that are said to be hiding in the waters of the world?

Champ is just one of the creatures. He (or she?) calls Lake Champlain home. This 100 mile long lake stretches between the United States and Canada, and creates a border between the states of Vermont and New York.

The very first published report of a creature in the lake came in 1819, when a "Captain Crum" claimed to see a 187ft long monster with the head of a seahorse. If there ever was a creature fitting this description, it stayed hidden for nearly 50 years. Then, around 1873, new reports started to pop up, and they've been rolling in ever since.

These reports vary in their descriptions, with Champ being anywhere from 10 to the aforementioned 187ft long. Its head shape is also all over the place. Seahorse? Alligator? Antlers? The colors are at least somewhat consistent, with most reports giving it a dark grey-green-brown color.

The most famous Champ sighting came in 1977, when a photograph was taken by Sandra Mansi. Mansi, her fiance, and her two children were stopped at an overlook when they saw something breach the surface of the water. The group watched the creature before it submerged, and Sandra was able to get a photograph. Of course, skeptics think that the image is just of a log risen to the surface during the decaying process.

Like Nessie, there are many theories out there on what Champ could be. Plesiosaurs, Eels, Seals, and Sea Snakes are all in the running. While we may never know the truth, the legend has been lucrative for the surrounding area. Vermont even has a minor league baseball team called the Lake Monsters!

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bornean Orangutan

The Bornean Orangutan is one of two extant Orangutan species in the world. It is the third largest primate (after Gorillas) and is the largest primarily tree-dwelling animal in the world. Males are substantially larger than females, and average at around 165lbs. Bornean Orangutans are largely solitary. A handful might live within a small range but they will seldom interact with one another. Males and females only meet up to breed, which happens only once every several years. A young Orangutan will stay with it's mother for about five years, and the females tend to go about eight years between births. That is the longest interim period of any animal! Sadly, the Bornean Orangutans are in a lot of trouble. They need large forests in order to thrive, and deforestation and habitat degradation has left many homeless. They are also hunted for meat and for traditional medicines. Conservation areas are being established to help these guys in the wild, and it is believed that there are a...
59 comments
Read more

Four!

For anyone who was counting, yesterday was our birthday-- four years! Four years filled with animals from A to Z, more than 1,100 of them! I can't thank my readers enough, it's been wonderful! And in celebration of that milestone... I'm taking a break. Hopefully not forever, but for a little bit at least. In the mean time I plan on getting a new layout out, along with some updates to some of the older articles. I'll post updates here and on the Facebook page, I'm also brainstorming some new animal-related projects, so keep an eye out! Thanks again for four awesome years!
18 comments
Read more

Banggai Cardinalfish

Pterapogon kauderni The Banggai Cardinalfish is a small tropical fish that is becoming very rare in the wild, even though it has been successfully bred in captivity. You will only find these small, 3in long fish around the Banggai Islands of Indonesia. They are the only members of their genus, and you can tell them apart from other Cardinalfish by their three-striped bodies, tasseled first dorsal fin, long second dorsal, and their deep-forked tail fins. Banggai Cardinalfish are diurnal and live in small groups of about a dozen members. They are opportunistic feeders who dine on whatever smaller plants and animals they can find. Courtship and mating is pretty interesting for these guys-- females are the ones who initiate. They isolate a male and the pair will perform various courtship rituals before spawning. The Cardinalfish are mouthbrooders, which means that the males take the fertilized eggs (up to 90 of them) into their mouths and incubate them for up to 30 days. During t...
37 comments
Read more