| (N'ha·a·itk, Naitaka) | |
|---|---|
 Ogopogo engraving from 1872 |
|
| Creature | |
| Grouping | Cryptid |
| Sub grouping | Lake monster |
| Data | |
| First reported | 1860 + prior local legend |
| Country | Canada |
| Region | Lake Okanagan, British Columbia |
| Habitat | Water |
Ogopogo or Naitaka (Salish: n'ha-a-itk, "lake demon") is the name given to a lake monster reported to live in Okanagan Lake, in British Columbia, Canada.
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Proponents of the Ogopogo's existence claim that the first documented sightings of the monster date back to around 1872, and occurred as the area was being colonized by European settlers.[citation needed] Perhaps the earliest mention of the Ogopogo was the story of a man in 1860 leading horses that were swimming across the lake near Rattlesnake Island. They were pulled under by some unseen and unknown force later attributed to the then common native myth of the Ogopogo.[citation needed]
In 1926 a sighting is claimed to have occurred at an Okanagan Mission Beach. This event was supposedly witnessed by about thirty cars of people who all claimed to have seen the same thing.[1] It was also in this year that the editor of the Vancouver Sun, Bobby Carter, wrote, "Too many reputable people have seen [the monster] to ignore the seriousness of actual facts."[citation needed]
The first alleged film of the creature is The Folden Film, filmed in 1968 by Art Folden, which shows a dark object propelling itself through shallow water near the shore. The film was shot from on a hill above the shore.[citation needed]
Ogopogo was allegedly filmed again in 1989 by a used car salesman, Ken Chaplin, who with his father, Clem Chaplin, claimed to have seen a snake-like animal swimming in the lake, which flicked its tail to create a splash. Some believe that the animal the Chaplins saw was simply a beaver, because the tail splashing is a well-known characteristic of beavers. However, Chaplin alleges the animal he saw was 15 feet (4.6 m) long, far larger than a typical beaver (beavers are approximately 4 feet (1.2 m) long). A few weeks later, Chaplin came back with his father and his daughter and filmed it again.[citation needed]
British cryptozoologist Karl Shuker has categorized the Ogopogo as a 'many hump' variety of lake monster, and suggested it may be a kind of primitive serpentine whale such as Basilosaurus. However, because the physical evidence for the beast is limited to unclear photographs and film, it has also been suggested that the sightings are misidentifications of common animals, such as otters, and inanimate objects, such as floating logs.[2] Another suggestion is that the Ogopogo is a lake sturgeon. It is also possible in some cases that Ogopogo could be the misidentification of a seiche, a standing wave in a lake that travels below the surface in a long serpentine motion.
A posting on the CFZ (Centre for Fortean Zoology) blog[3] shows parallel photos indicating that the primary components of Ogopogo sightings are large sturgeons and swimming moose that create a standing wave in the wake. He supports this contention with photos including a swimming moose that has a "many humped" wake, and with illustrations that depict Ogopogo with a mooselike head and antlers. Drinnon states that the reports including long necks of 10 feet and longer are quite rare, and shows an example that could plausibly be describing a large leaping fish such as a white sturgeon, which are known for their leaping by sportsmen. He also illustrates that the pictographs around the lake (and supposedly showing the Lake Demon) are quite crude and show basically loglike streaks in red ochre. The rock art depictions ascribed to Lake Okanagan in the books by Mackal and Costello do not occur at that lake, they are at Vancouver Island (independantly stated also by Joe Nickell).[citation needed]
In 1990, a Canadian postage stamp depicting an artist's conception of the Ogopogo was issued.[4]
Ogopogo was both codename and mascot for 1996's Microsoft Publisher 97, with Ogopogo graphics featured prominently in the beta setup. Team t-shirts featured two versions of the monster: a small stylized picture on the front patch, and a larger, animation-influenced upper-body shot on back.
In 2005, a film inspired by the Ogopogo and made in New Zealand was released. The filmmakers were about to name the creature in the film after the Ogopogo until an Aboriginal protested that use of the name compromised Aboriginal religion, although other Aboriginals encouraged the use of the name "Ogopogo." Thus, the creature became "Mee-Shee" and the film was called Mee-Shee: The Water Giant. Jim Henson's Creature Shop modelled Mee-Shee after the late actor Walter Matthau.[5]
The logo for Kelowna's Western Hockey League team, the Kelowna Rockets, depicts Ogopogo.
In Canada, "Ogopogo" has also been a name given to items such as boats and canoes. In 1972, the Supreme Court of Canada considered the case Horsley v. MacLaren which involved a boat called the Ogopogo. The case itself is also known as "The Ogopogo case".[6] In 1989, a car salesman from Kelowna sold footage of a beaver to the American TV show Unsolved Mysteries, claiming it to be Ogopogo. In 1990, the owner of the Peachland Marina Restaurant "Mary's Country Kitchen" claimed to have photographed the Ogopogo crossing the lake from Rattlesnake Island
Harry Horse wrote a book for children, "The Ogopogo - My Journey with the Loch Ness Monster", in 1983.
In Season 3 of the TV series Monster Quest, a search was conducted for evidence of the existence of an Ogopogo, revealing sink holes in the floor of the lake, cold streaks across the lakes surface (possibly indicating a large, cold-blooded creature surfacing for food), and what was at first thought to be a baby Ogopogo corpse, but was in fact an unrecognizable decomposed fish (Salmon) body.
The TV series In Search Of covered the legend in their season 2, episode 8 show in 1978. A July 1977 incident, involving locals Ed Fletcher, his daughter Jill, and Erin Neely is discussed, among others.
In Final Fantasy IV, the Ogopogo is featured as a side boss in the final dungeon known as the Lunar Subterrane. It was also featured in the print advertising for the game, which included the tagline "Ogopogo lives! Will you?"
Well respected hockey analyst Daryn Duliba posts under the pseudonym Ogopogo on Hockey's Future.[7]
In episode 103 of Reborn!, Hayato Gokudera tells Haru Miura that if he were to have a pet, it would be an Ogopogo, as it is "the strongest of all monsters".
Ogopogo is mentioned at the start of The Venture Brothers Season 4 episode "Return to Malice", in a discussion between two of The Monarch's Henchmen, 86 and 87. As they argue about Champ and the Loch Ness Monster, they are interrupted by Henchman 21 who makes the case that "Champ is a picture of a log" and "Nessie is a toy submarine with a head made out of plastic wood," while Ogopogo is a plesiosaur.
Coordinates: 49°32′50″N 119°35′44″W / 49.54722°N 119.59556°W
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Singular |
Plural |
Ogopogo (plural Ogopogos)
   | CTV Canada - CTV.ca | Quebecer claims to have photos of lake monster |
| | Ogopogo sightings and stories - Stories of Ogopogo |
| | Is Ogopogo a Nothosaur? - Global Lake Monster Database |
| | Ogopogopedia - the Okanagan's Wiki - Main Page - Ogopogopedia |
| | The Ogopogo Lake Monster - Hometown Has Been Shutdown - People Connection Blog: AIM Community Network |
| | Part 1 - YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. |
| | Part 1 - YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. |
| | Alleged film of the monster. - YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. |
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