Is There A Cameron Lake Monster?

There are lots of people like me who are very interested in cryptids, those elusive creatures like the Ogopogo, Loch Ness, and Sasquatch.

Some friends think it's funny that I grew up in Creston, home of the Labatts Brewing Company, yes, the same people who make Kokanee Beer, home of the Sasquatch. And now I live here in the Oceanside Region and possible home to a lake monster. Coincidence, I think not!

A man swimming in Cameron Lake at sunset

Credit: L. Sveinson

I was recently interviewed by a reporter from A Channel TV, he asked if I thought there might be a monster living beneath Cameron Lake? My response was "well if we look at the evidence and number of fossils of prehistoric creatures found thoughout this area on display at the Qualicum Beach Paleontology Museum who am I to say there is nothing to it. Maybe its a sturgeon that came up the river and liked the lake so much he decided to stay, who wouldn't want to live here."

Well, this September a real CSI team, the Cryptid Scientific Investigators, the BC Scientic Cryptozoology Club are coming to scour Cameron Lake to find out just that - what lies beneath. I like everyone else is curious to hear their findings. You'll have to check back to hear the results.

In the meantime, read the Parksville Qualicum News article about our "Cameron Lake-osaurus".

A Few Months Later . . . The hunt for the Cameron Lake Cryptid Continues!

Round two of the search for the Cameron Lake Cryptid this week confirmed that there is something very large swimming in the lake just west of Parksville-Qualicum Beach.

Researchers recorded four strikes in their search on Tuesday, September 14 which supported their findings last year of two large animals in the lake. “It was definitely a success,” says John Kirk, co-founder of the BC Scientific Cryptozoology Club and author of In the Domain of the Lake Monsters, who conducted the initial research expedition on September 19, 2009 at Cameron Lake. “We had four hits in two different places rather than 4 hits in the same place and it was significant that we were able to see – besides their size – that the objects were cylindrical.”

Kirk explains the cylinder-shaped objects were floating in suspension about 10 ft. off the bottom of the lake – perhaps 90 ft. deep. “The settings were set differently, we adjusted the sensitivity up, and we got the shape of the object this time. The size indicates whatever we hit was large and solid,” says Kirk.

“It could be a sturgeon – could be something else, but whatever it is – it’s large.”

John Kirk

It could be a sturgeon – could be something else, but whatever it is – it’s large.

Co-founder of the BC Scientific Cryptozoology Club

The first strikes happened early in the day at about 11 am and 11:15 am. The first strike recorded two objects near one another, while a second strike at 11:15 am recorded a separate single object in amongst a school of fish. “It could have been that the two objects were swimming apart, however it makes me wonder if in fact there are three animals in the lake like Bridget Horvath has suggested,” says Kirk.

Kirk refers to a 2007 sighting by Bridget Horvath, who noticed a strange wake in the water and three objects or creatures going in a circle. “The photo appears to have two objects, but she claimed there were in fact three,” Kirk says.

Kirk has spent time on Okanagan Lake in search of Ogopogo, and as chairman of the Crypto Safari Organization, has traveled to destinations like Africa as part of a research team in search of living dinosaurs.

Kirk says the next step to take would be to try and capture photographic evidence of the animals to identify them, but the search would have to include more advanced underwater photography and perhaps side scan sonar equipment.“

This is a process – not an instant answer – to establish truth to eye witness sightings,” he says.The BC Scientific Cryptozoology Club was founded in 1989. The group studies elusive creatures, such as lake monsters and Sasquatches, known as cryptids and the study of called cryptozoology: from the Greek (cryptos) for hidden, and zoology, the study of animals.

Besides numerous sightings of the Cameron Lake monster, Vancouver Island, along the Cryptid Corridor of Highway 4, has been the location of numerous Sasquatch sightings.

See more photos on the Parksville Qualicum facebook page.