Champlain is a large deep-water lake on the border of the USA and Canada (172 km x20 km), which has a long history and is famous for its monster. This lake was discovered and explored by the Frenchman Samuel de Champlain in 1608. He was the first to notice in its waters a 6-meter snake as thick as a barrel and with a horse's head. He began to question the local Indians, who confirmed that a mysterious monster really lived in the lake.
Especially many legends were told by the Iroquois and Abenaki, who have lived on the shores of the lake since time immemorial. The Abenaki call the creature "Tatoskok". Indians of other tribes believe that this is a large fish, similar to a sea pike, which was given the name chaus-ru. The Europeans began to call the mysterious monster simply - Champ.
In 1883, Sheriff Nathan G. Mooney reported that he had seen a 50-meter long water snake on the shore. Mooney claimed that the snake was so close that he could see round white spots in its mouth. It is noteworthy that this story was recorded 50 years earlier than the first alleged sighting of the Loch Ness monster.
After the sheriff's report, other eyewitness accounts emerged with their own accounts of Shamp's sightings. More than 300 cases of the appearance of this strange creature have been recorded. But scientists have not yet confirmed the reality of its existence - the monster is elusive.
Skeptics believe that Champagne is a ploy of local residents seeking to attract more tourists. Others believe that the creature actually lives at the bottom of the lake, being a descendant of plesiosaurs - giant aquatic reptiles that became extinct in prehistoric times. It was the plesiosaurs that were perfectly adapted to life in water bodies, although they had to come up to the surface from time to time in order to breathe air. Some of their species had long necks and small heads. Perhaps the sheriff mistook the plesiosaur's neck for a snake floating on the surface.
It is noteworthy that the remains of plesiosaurs were found on all continents and there is a possibility that in some places they could have survived. For example, in Loch Ness in Scotland and in Champlain in North America. It is no coincidence that these lakes are similar in depth (about 120 meters), they have a lot of fish, which the monster can eat.
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According to geologist Thomas Manley, Champlain was connected to the Atlantic Ocean 12,000 years ago. Then the glacier melted and fresh water displaced salty water. It was during this period that the outlet to the sea was closed, and the plesiosaur colony could settle in the lake.
In 1977, documentary evidence of the existence of the legendary monster finally appeared. Tourist Sandra Muncie photographed the head, neck and back of a huge animal emerging from the lake. Her two children were wandering in shallow water when a terrible thing happened: something like a dinosaur surfaced about 50 meters from the shore.
Sandra's husband rushed to the children and pulled them out of the water. Sandra, meanwhile, grabbed a camera and took a unique picture. Immediately after that, the monster disappeared under the water. But the woman managed to notice that the length of the head and neck of the dinosaur was about 1.8, and the animal itself reached about 5 meters.
Mansie kept the photo in her family album for a long time, hesitating to publish it. “We didn't want to be seen as a couple of psychos,” she explained the delay. The photo was only published in 1981. This photograph was remarkably similar to the famous “surgeon's photograph” of the Loch Ness Monster, taken in 1934 by Dr. Kenneth Wilson.
After the photo was published, the questions did not diminish. The fact is that the bay of the lake, which is shown in the photograph, is no deeper than 4.3 meters and it is not clear how a huge creature could freely swim aground. Some even suggested that a floating tree trunk or log had hit Sandra's lens.
However, everyone who made an examination of the photograph admitted that the object did not at all look like a log. In addition, plesiosaurs were significantly smaller in size than dinosaurs (their length did not exceed 15 meters, while more than half was occupied by a head and neck), and a body submerged in water could well maneuver at a depth of 4 meters.
Shamp was seen by many witnesses: ship captains, doctors, police officers, historians, tourists. Once a ship with 58 passengers on board was peacefully sailing on the waters of the lake, when suddenly a monster appeared with three or five humps, 9 to 11 meters long. It floated on the port side for 5 minutes, and then turned 90 degrees and disappeared. The passengers and the captain assure that they were not drunk at all in order to confuse the fish with the monster.
Some researchers believe that Champ may be a snake-like whale - a zeglodon. This creature also became extinct millions of years ago, but cases of the appearance of a similar monster were recorded off the coast of British Columbia.
Meanwhile, studies of the lake were continued with modern equipment.
Fisherman Dick Affolter was able to film Champa. This happened in the summer of 2005. Two retired FBI image forensics experts examined the film carefully and said it appeared to be genuine and uncut. But they refused to admit that the appearance of the monster was recorded on the tape.
In 2003, the Research Institute of Fauna Communication conducted sonic echolocation of the lake. Their conclusion: recorded sounds that do not belong to any of the known animals. These sounds resemble those of killer whales or beluga whales, but there is no information about dolphins or whales living in the lake area.
Echolocation of the bottom was also carried out by the seeker of underwater treasures, Joseph Zarzuinsky. He searched for the monster for over 20 years and even wrote the book "Champ: Beyond the Legend." Joseph did not manage to see the monster, but he recorded 300 signals, which allowed him to conclude that a large and strange creature lives in the lake: lizard-like, with a long neck, huge eyes and four fins.
A study was conducted in 2008 by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, in collaboration with the New York State Department of Environmental Protection and the Vermont Fisheries and Wildlife Service, which culminated in a report. It reported an unexplained decline in the number of some fish species in the lake.
The researchers found it odd that the fluctuations in fish abundance were too sharp and caused by an unknown factor. However, officials still refuse to conclude that this unknown factor is a local legendary creature - Champ.
Despite doubts about the monster's authenticity, the Vermont House of Representatives passed a ruling protecting Shampa "from any willful act leading to death, injury or disturbance." Legislators have also informed citizens that they are encouraging reports of sightings of such animals.