Iliamna Lake Monster

Over the weekend I found myself in a coffee shop conversation with an individual who was unique, to say the least.  He walked in wearing full motorcycle regalia (chaps included), claimed to be an Alaskan bush pilot, an ex-cop, and a lightning strike survivor.  I have no reason to doubt him on any of these counts, although I did grow tired at his monologue, which was (like so many other monologues) basically about how cool he was.

At any rate, at one point he mentioned that he had recently been talking to a Native woman on Whidbey Island (here in Washington, not far from my home) whose son had captured "some of the best footage of the Iliamna Lake Monster ever filmed."  The footage had, he asserted, been sold to the History Channel show "MonsterQuest" for $80,000.

Once again, I have no reason to doubt his claims.  But still - eighty thousand dollars?  From a Discovery Channel show?  That seems like an awful lot of money for the History Channel, which is (like all other cable networks) a pretty cheap affair.  Heck, Jon and Kate Gosselin (well, just Kate now, I guess) only make $50,000 per episode, and that's for TLC's flagship show.

So like I said, take it with a grain of salt, but keep an eye out for some Iliamna Lake Monster footage on "MonsterQuest," because if History Channel really paid $80k for it, it had better be good!

Like all large lakes, Lake Iliamna has a body of monster stories going back to the Aleut tribe's oral history.  Lake Iliamna is one of the largest lakes in North America, a freshwater body of water covering approximately a thousand square miles, roughly the size of Rhode Island.  It drains into Bristol Bay through a river, and hosts one of the few populations of freshwater seals in the world.  Lake Iliamna is only accessible by air, and has no road or overland access except a very long and difficult hike indeed.

The lake monster is said to be about 20 feet long, narrow like a fish, and copper or tan colored.  Several reliable accounts have been recorded over the years, including those of bush pilots flying overhead and spotting the animal from the air.  One of the most interesting accounts is that of a phlegmatic woman in a boat who observed the "monster" in the late 1980s and reported that it was "just a fish," and had a long snout, "probably a sturgeon."

The most common - and likely - explanation for the Iliamna lake monster is that it is a giant sturgeon.  White sturgeon easily match the reports, being slow moving, colored white, tan, or copper, narrow, and about 20 feet long.  These sluggish bottom feeding fish are native to Bristol Bay, and are known to swim up rivers in order to feed, explore, or spawn.  

Little is known about the habits of sturgeon, and their mysterious nature means that they are liable to turn up in the most unusual places, startling witnesses.  That seems to be the nature of the Iliamna lake monster, but perhaps that "MonsterQuest" footage will set us straight!