According to North American folklore, Champ (also known as 'Tatoskok') is the giant sea monster who lives in lake Champlain. He is said to be 30-ft long with humps along his back, and some people say that his head resembles a horse. There have been over 300 reported sightings of the creature and he attracts a vast amount of tourists to the local area.
Scientists believe that Champ might be a basilosaurus - a prehistoric snake-like whale. The remains of one of these creatures have been found near Charlotte, Vermont, which is very close to lake Champlain itself. In 2003 the Fauna Communications Research Institute investigated the lake and recorded the sounds of an unknown animal. The sounds resemble that of a Beluga Whale or an Orca, but no dolphin or whales species are known to have ever lived in the lake.
Champ was spotted by two fishermen in 2005, so it seems that he is still very much alive and well. You can view their video of the creature and the news report here.
Champ sounds a lot like Nesse. ;)
ReplyDeleteIf there was a giant sea snake in a lake I would NOT be fishing or swimming at all.
I definitely wouldn't be near the water either! Just imagine that giant brushing against your legs! *shudder*
DeleteHow cool. Never heard of this one! Looking forward to more of your a-z posts.
ReplyDeleteThank you :)
DeleteI never heard of Champ before. Interesting! Looking forward to following your A-Z posts. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks very much :)
DeleteI hadn't hear of this before! Love what I'm learning through A to Z!
ReplyDeleteI agree. A-Z is so great for learning new and interesting things :)
DeleteI'd never heard of a Champ either. Guess we know where the inspiration of the sandworms in Beetlejuice came from because that's immediately what I thought of when I saw the drawing and read the description. This is a pretty cool site. I will be prowling around some more.
ReplyDeleteYes! I didn't think of that but he DOES look an awful lot like a sandworm!
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