Lake monsters are very rare in New Zealand. There are sea serpents reported from its coasts but inland water monsters are almost unknown.
Lake Coleridge is near Canterbury on the South Island. It has a surface area of 47 km² and is 3 km wide by 17 km long. The Rakaia River runs into the lake and in 1914 became the sight of the countries earliest hydroelectric schemes. The Wilberforce and Harper Rivers both have some of their flow diverted intio the lake as well. Lake Coleridge is well known for its salmon and for something else as well.
In the early 1970s there were rumors of something big, powerful and unknown lurking in the lake. The monster is supposed to drag away fishermen’s rods.
In 1972 the beast was blamed for the disappearance of a fisherman. The old man’s upturned boat was found but no body ever found. Many locals from the tight knit refused to fish on the lake after that.
Things seemed to settle for a while but then in 1975 two women reported seeing the monster’s head rise up from the lake. It was described as wolf like but hairless. In the same year a teacher and his wife saw the creature. It grabbed and ate a large water bird from a flock resting on the surface. The monster was imaginatively dubbed ‘Lakey’’
In 1976 a farmer on the west side of the lake began losing considerable numbers of sheep to some unseen predator when they went to drink by the waters edge. Investigating noticed a dark shadow just below the surface of the water where a lamb was moving to take a sip. He shouted, and the huge shape shot off.
The following year several witnesses saw a large monster, 16 feet long, rolling around on the surface, snapping its jaws. News of the sighting spreads like wildfire. The creature is described as gray, with four visible flippers and no obvious dorsal fin. Overall it was quite "fish-like".
After this a hunter from Otago decided to try and kill the monster. He set off at on a boat rigged with radar, harpoons. He was out on the Lake for two weeks but failed to uncover anything but the occasional big blip on the radar.
Taking his hunt under water he decided to dive in a wetsuit. When beneath the water, he found his boat was directly above the wreck of a yacht, which was lying on the bottom of the lake. Curious, he investigated the yacht. As he turned back up to resurface, he was struck in the ribs by something powerful. Not staying around to see what it was, he got back to his boat and left.
In 1979 a group of fisherman on the lakes western most shore saw the creature. The animal was seen to stare at them with its head partially above water. For some time it swam in slow circles, not taking its eyes off the men, then left to beneath the water. The next morning a huge, snake like trail was found in the mud. Could such an animal travel to an inland lake? The answer is yes.
Overall the descriptions sound like a big leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx). This formidable beast has a slik, almost snake like head, dark gray fur and a predetory nature.They have been known to attack small boats and one one occation have bitten a human diver to death. A 16 feet ‘Lakey’ is larger than a leopard seal, that grows to around 11 feet. But eye witnesses may have been exagerating the animal’s size.
The snake like trail found in the mud sounds like the slide marks of a seal. Seals haul their bodies along the groud rather than bounding like sea lions. Could such an animal trvel some 50 miles to Lake Coleridge from the sea? The answer is yes. A 3 metre leopard seal was caught in 1870, 48 km up the Shoalhaven River in Australia (having just eaten a duck billed platypus!). They can go much further inland if they please. Mr R E Day saw a seal 400km up the Murray River, Australia. J Dunn, the director of the geological survey of Victoria, saw a shoal of seas swimming in the flooded Murrumbidgee in 1850. They were 1200km from the sea!
The animal has now probably died or returned to the sea. But it left behind a legend. If this had been Australia rather than New Zealand the creature would surly have entered folklore as a bunyip.
Lake Coleridge is near Canterbury on the South Island. It has a surface area of 47 km² and is 3 km wide by 17 km long. The Rakaia River runs into the lake and in 1914 became the sight of the countries earliest hydroelectric schemes. The Wilberforce and Harper Rivers both have some of their flow diverted intio the lake as well. Lake Coleridge is well known for its salmon and for something else as well.
In the early 1970s there were rumors of something big, powerful and unknown lurking in the lake. The monster is supposed to drag away fishermen’s rods.
In 1972 the beast was blamed for the disappearance of a fisherman. The old man’s upturned boat was found but no body ever found. Many locals from the tight knit refused to fish on the lake after that.
Things seemed to settle for a while but then in 1975 two women reported seeing the monster’s head rise up from the lake. It was described as wolf like but hairless. In the same year a teacher and his wife saw the creature. It grabbed and ate a large water bird from a flock resting on the surface. The monster was imaginatively dubbed ‘Lakey’’
In 1976 a farmer on the west side of the lake began losing considerable numbers of sheep to some unseen predator when they went to drink by the waters edge. Investigating noticed a dark shadow just below the surface of the water where a lamb was moving to take a sip. He shouted, and the huge shape shot off.
The following year several witnesses saw a large monster, 16 feet long, rolling around on the surface, snapping its jaws. News of the sighting spreads like wildfire. The creature is described as gray, with four visible flippers and no obvious dorsal fin. Overall it was quite "fish-like".
After this a hunter from Otago decided to try and kill the monster. He set off at on a boat rigged with radar, harpoons. He was out on the Lake for two weeks but failed to uncover anything but the occasional big blip on the radar.
Taking his hunt under water he decided to dive in a wetsuit. When beneath the water, he found his boat was directly above the wreck of a yacht, which was lying on the bottom of the lake. Curious, he investigated the yacht. As he turned back up to resurface, he was struck in the ribs by something powerful. Not staying around to see what it was, he got back to his boat and left.
In 1979 a group of fisherman on the lakes western most shore saw the creature. The animal was seen to stare at them with its head partially above water. For some time it swam in slow circles, not taking its eyes off the men, then left to beneath the water. The next morning a huge, snake like trail was found in the mud. Could such an animal travel to an inland lake? The answer is yes.
Overall the descriptions sound like a big leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx). This formidable beast has a slik, almost snake like head, dark gray fur and a predetory nature.They have been known to attack small boats and one one occation have bitten a human diver to death. A 16 feet ‘Lakey’ is larger than a leopard seal, that grows to around 11 feet. But eye witnesses may have been exagerating the animal’s size.
The snake like trail found in the mud sounds like the slide marks of a seal. Seals haul their bodies along the groud rather than bounding like sea lions. Could such an animal trvel some 50 miles to Lake Coleridge from the sea? The answer is yes. A 3 metre leopard seal was caught in 1870, 48 km up the Shoalhaven River in Australia (having just eaten a duck billed platypus!). They can go much further inland if they please. Mr R E Day saw a seal 400km up the Murray River, Australia. J Dunn, the director of the geological survey of Victoria, saw a shoal of seas swimming in the flooded Murrumbidgee in 1850. They were 1200km from the sea!
The animal has now probably died or returned to the sea. But it left behind a legend. If this had been Australia rather than New Zealand the creature would surly have entered folklore as a bunyip.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment