A large deceased marine animal, believed to be mammalian, and the infamous “Champ”, a
prehistoric creature that has somehow survived in Lake Champlain, has
washed up on Oakledge Beach in Burlington, Vermont. A sighting of the creature was first
recorded by Samuel deChamplain, the first white explorer to tour the
lake and write an account of his advetures in 1609.

Champlain recorded a sighting of a huge
“sea monster” in the 150 mile-long lake with a large serpent type body. Many eye-witnesses claim to
have seen the legendary monster, which has a whale-like tail, and elongated body and four large flippers. But until now, no one has succeeded in capturing
it or verifying it’s existence. Numerous sightings, some photographs and even some blurry video
footage taken of Champ over the years have kept hope alive that the Lake Champlain Monster is real.

One local witness, Buddy Wiser, claims to have seen Champ at sunset on
a clear evening as he sat fishing in his boat off Snake Harbor. “I was
so close I could see his eyes looking at me”, he said. Another witness,
Rose Chablis, who was visiting from Napa Valley, California, remarked,
“we were just launching the boat and we saw some ripples off the
starboard side. Then we realized it was the humps in the back of a large
animal.”

Crews were still working hard to remove the enormous animal with the help of two enormous cranes Tuesday night. Staff at the Echo Marine Center in Burlington were hauling some late ice out of Lake Champlain with the hope of preserving the animal for a few days of autopsy. Immediate speculation is that the Burlington Intervale Compost Center will be happy recipient of the carcass, once it has been autopsied and tissue samples have been taken. University of Vermont (UVM) genetics professors are hoping those tissue samples could provide stem cells that could yield some clones of the giant mammal. UVM Professor I.C. Clonz was quoted as saying, “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for research on the lake and for genetic tinkering.” Clonz was hopeful research will be concluded by 2010, April Fools Day.

Check out a great book on Lake Champlain Monster, Loch Ness and more here:

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