The Shuswap Lake Monster, also known as "Shugumu ", is a cryptid which supposedly lives in Shuswap Lake. Sightings On 3 June 1984, a woman named Linda Griffiths was sailing on the lake with her two children and a friend of theirs when she observed a patch of water, about 300 feet away from her, that suddenly began to churn violently. After looking at the disturbance with her binoculars, she then noticed seven greyish-brown humps moving above the surface of the water in a straight line, and at a rapid pace. The animal crossed in front of the boat before finally submerging. After her sighting, Mrs. Griffiths said that the creature resembled a fast-moving snake, around 20 to 25 feet in total length, and that it swam with vertical undulations. Explanations British cryptozoologist Dr. Karl Shuker has hypothesized that the Lake Shuswap Monster might possibly be a surviving Zeuglodont. These were specialized prehistoric, serpent-like whales, that lived during the Eocene Epoch. They were about the same size as the lake monster, and, unlike modern-day whales, they had a well-developed neck, which could possibly be raised above the surface of the water. This might possibly account for head-and-neck sightings of this creature.<ref name="From Flying Toads To Snakes With Wings" />
|