Overview
Champ is the creature said to live in Lake Champlain, the long lake shared by New York, Vermont and Quebec. Witnesses usually describe a long, dark, serpent-like animal, sometimes with humps or a small head on a long neck. It is America's most famous lake monster.
The Abenaki and Iroquois told of a large creature in the lake before Europeans arrived, and the Abenaki name is often given as Tatoskok or Gitaskog, a great horned serpent. A popular claim that explorer Samuel de Champlain saw a monster in 1609 turns out to trace back only to a 1970 magazine article; Champlain appears to have been describing a large gar fish.
Reports grew in the 1800s, when steamboats and railroads brought more people to the shore. Showman P.T. Barnum offered a large reward for its hide. In 1977 Sandra Mansi took a photograph of what looks like a head and neck rising from the water, still the most famous image of Champ. In the 1980s Port Henry, Vermont and New York passed resolutions protecting the creature. Supporters cite hundreds of sightings and a 2003 underwater sound recording. Skeptics point to logs, large fish and waves, and note that no physical evidence has been found.
Timeline
- Pre-contactAbenaki and Iroquois traditions describe a lake creature.
- 1609Champlain's voyage; the 'monster' quote attributed to him dates only to 1970.
- 1819Captain Crum reports a huge black creature in Bulwagga Bay.
- 1873P.T. Barnum offers a reward for Champ's hide; railroad crew sighting.
- 1883Sheriff Nathan Mooney reports a creature 25 to 35 feet long.
- 1945Passengers on the SS Ticonderoga report a sighting.
- 1977Sandra Mansi photographs a long-necked shape.
- 1981-1983Port Henry, Vermont and New York pass protective resolutions.
- 2003Fauna Communications records echolocation-like sounds.
- 2005Fishermen Dick Affolter and Pete Bodette film a shape in the water.
- 2024Drone footage from a film production shows an object in Bulwagga Bay.
Reported sightings
Bulwagga Bay, near Port Henry, New York
1819 On the record
A ship's captain known as Captain Crum reported a huge black creature, which he put at about 187 feet long, with a head like a sea horse. Later retellings add details such as three teeth and eyes the color of peeled onions. It is the earliest widely cited settler report.
Source: lakechamplainregion.comLake Champlain shore, near Dresden, New York
1873 On the record
A railroad crew reported an enormous serpent with silvery scales. That same year a steamboat was said to have struck the creature, and P.T. Barnum offered a big reward for its hide for his show. Sources disagree on the size of Barnum's offer.
Source: lakechamplainregion.comLake Champlain
1883 On the record
Sheriff Nathan H. Mooney reported seeing a creature he estimated at 25 to 30 feet long from about 100 meters away. A law officer's report gave the legend extra weight in the newspapers of the day.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAboard the SS Ticonderoga, Lake Champlain
1945 On the record
Passengers aboard the steamer Ticonderoga reported seeing Champ swimming in the lake. It is one of the best-known group sightings in the lake's history.
Source: newenglandhistoricalsociety.comLake Champlain
1977 On the record
Sandra Mansi photographed what appears to be a head and long neck rising from the water. The photo became the best-known image of Champ. Some analysts found no sign of tampering. Skeptic Joe Nickell and others note the site was shallow, no deeper than about 14 feet, and suggest a rising log or tree trunk.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgLake Champlain
2003 On the record
Fauna Communications Research Institute recorded underwater sounds that resembled the clicks of beluga whales or dolphins, neither of which lives in the lake. Supporters saw this as possible evidence of a large animal using echolocation; no source of the sounds was identified.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgLake Champlain
2005 On the record
Fishermen Dick Affolter and Pete Bodette filmed something moving in the water. The video aired on ABC News. FBI image analysts said it appeared authentic and unedited, but added that they could not actually see an animal in it.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgBulwagga Bay, New York
2024 On the record
Drone footage shot during production of the film Lucy and the Lake Monster showed an object in Bulwagga Bay that some viewers took to be Champ. The footage brought fresh attention to the same bay where Captain Crum made his report in 1819.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgEvidence
Mansi photograph (1977) Disputed
Clear image of a long-necked shape. Debated: animal, log or other object.
2003 echolocation recording Unexplained
Sounds like those of toothed whales recorded in the lake; source unknown.
2005 Bodette-Affolter video Disputed
Judged unedited by analysts, who could not identify an animal.
Champlain 1609 'quote' Explained
Traced to a 1970 Vermont Life article; Champlain apparently described gar.
What each side says
What witnesses and researchers report
Hundreds of people, including a sheriff and boatloads of passengers, have reported seeing something large in the lake over two centuries. Indigenous traditions describe a creature there long before settlers arrived.
Supporters point to the Mansi photo and the 2003 sound recordings as unexplained evidence, and to the lake's size and depth as room for an unknown animal to hide.
What skeptics and scientists suggest
Skeptics such as Joe Nickell say believers are arguing from ignorance. Lake Champlain has large fish, floating logs and wave effects that could explain many sightings.
The famous Champlain quote is a modern invention, and the Mansi photo site was too shallow to hide a large animal. No body, bones or DNA have been found.
Open questions
- What made the 2003 underwater sounds?
- What is in the Mansi photograph?
Visiting
Where: Port Henry, New York (Champ statue and sightings board by the water) and the Burlington, Vermont, and Plattsburgh, New York, shores.
Access: Public waterfronts and parks.
Events: Port Henry holds Champ Day each August. The Vermont Lake Monsters baseball team uses Champ as its mascot.
Did you know?
- Port Henry declared its waters a safe haven for Champ in 1981.
- Champlain probably described a gar, not a monster.
- Some accounts say a steamboat collided with Champ in 1873.