Knik Tribal Council | Iliamna Lake Monster .wpb_animate_when_almost_visible { opacity: 1; } Home About Us Meet Our Council Our Mission Our Vision History Information Become a Member Calendar of Events Departments Benteh STEAM Academy Dena’ina Cultural Exchange Program Education and Training Benteh STEAM Academy Employment Support Services Scholarship & Vocational Training No-Cost Training Referalls Environmental & Cultural Resources Cultural Resources Environmental Research Housing Affordable Rental Available Properties Mortgage Closing Cost Assistance Social Services Childcare Assistance Elders Meals Program ICWA Victims of Crime Outreach Youth Services Benteh STEAM Academy Report Card Incentive Sports & Activity Fee Summer Youth Work Program Forms & Applications Careers Contact Contact Us Staff Directory Home About Us Meet Our Council Our Mission Our Vision History Information Become a Member Calendar of Events Departments Benteh STEAM Academy Dena’ina Cultural Exchange Program Education and Training Benteh STEAM Academy Employment Support Services Scholarship & Vocational Training No-Cost Training Referalls Environmental & Cultural Resources Cultural Resources Environmental Research Housing Affordable Rental Available Properties Mortgage Closing Cost Assistance Social Services Childcare Assistance Elders Meals Program ICWA Victims of Crime Outreach Youth Services Benteh STEAM Academy Report Card Incentive Sports & Activity Fee Summer Youth Work Program Forms & Applications Careers Contact Contact Us Staff Directory 07 Feb Iliamna Lake Monster Posted at 13:33h in Environmental Research (ER) by Cheyenne Peterson 0 Likes Iliamna Lake Monster February 7, 2022 Bruce Wright In 2007, the Knik Tribe Chief Scientist became intrigued with the mystery of a large unexplained animal, likely a fish, that is often referred to as the Lake Iliamna monster. Iliamna Lake or Lake Iliamna (Yup’ik: Nanvarpak; Dena’ina Athabascan: Nila Vena) is a lake in southwest Alaska, on the Alaska Peninsula, between Kvichak Bay and Cook Inlet, about 100 miles (160 km) west of Seldovia, Alaska. It is the largest lake in Alaska, and the third-largest lake entirely in the United States. Covering about 2,600 km² (1,000 sq mi), Lake Iliamna is 76 miles (120 km) long and up to 27 miles (43 km) wide, with a maximum depth of over 1, 000 feet (330 m). The Kvichak River drains Lake Iliamna into Bristol Bay.Accounts of a large animal may go back for centuries if not thousands of years in accounts shared as oral history. Recent accounts seem to collaborate those traditional historical accounts passed from generation to generation as oral stories. Because of these observations, the Knik Tribe Chief Scientist collected recent accounts (see below), and continues to pursue the search for the Lake Iliamna monster: 3/12/20 Vernajean KolyahaWhen my family and I saw it back in the eighties, it looked more like an orca, even sounded like one. When I was a kid, we saw a fish that resembled a small whale, it was after salmon, down near the bottom. Last summer (in 2019) I went over something out between Big Chute/Lincoln Face and Jack Durants, a few years back, we were out in the islands, what I saw then, was similar to what I saw when I was a kid, that it was heading for deeper water. Each time I’ve seen it, it was no longer than an 18′ skiff. I know there is something in this lake, and Elders that are no longer here said the same thing. What it is, I don’t know.2016 Name withheld upon requestGood evening Mr. Wright. Saw the article in the paper that more are finally looking into the “lake monsters” story. I’ve always been fascinated with legends, and even more so with the possibility, however small, they might be true. After all, they find species once thought extinct every few years, and we’ve explored more of the moon than our own oceans and lakes, so who knows what’s really out there.This photo (below) was shared with me a few years ago by a friend that went on a day trip – they flew in to fish and look at the seals. The story goes they found the seals near some rocks in a shallow area, and they were acting strange – afraid even. My friends didn’t think anything of it besides it seems a little odd, thinking perhaps they saw a bear onshore or something, so they started to fish. Within a few minutes, THIS is what caught their line…Now not to jump on the bandwagon, this photo is really, really cool. I’m convinced it’s some kind of reptile. How cool would it be to be some dinosaur? Just zoom in and you’ll see the lure they were using bottom right, it was the big version mind you, so this “monster” must be huge! You can see the scales, it’s eye and everything! The wake you see is apparently from its tail splashing around before it broke the line – they were drifting in the boat with the engine off.I’m sure the naysayers will claim it’s a rock(fish), but I’ve been fishing for over 30 years – that’s no rock (fish)! Even over at Lake Clark, I’m sure there’s undiscovered species of “something”. Once there was a 10,000-pound line set to floating on the water tied to a rock, and the line snapped! Hope you can validate what We fishermen have “known” for years. People who have seen the photo have speculated it to be a rainbow trout(?), a sturgeon, and even an alligator but we really have no idea what it was.With regards and good luck.Robbin La Vine’s Account & Inquiry into the Iliamna Lake “Monster”/Large FishThe Sighting – August 18, 2008My associate Jory Stariwat and I were flying along the Eastern shore of Lake Iliamna on our way to a fish camp residence on Mink Creek of Knutson Bay. As we drew closer, we dropped altitude over Fox Bay, and just toward the lake side of two small islands near a deep-water drop-off, I saw what looked like a large aquatic mammal. It was in a stretch of shallows, pale blue, between the shore and the drop-off. At first, I thought it might be a seal, but it looked too big, too finny. It was dark and sinuous. More like a fish. But it was the size of a beluga, just not as stiff as a beluga and the color was wrong. At one point I thought it might be two seals twisting around together in the shallows. I am pretty sure I did see a flowing tail fin. It made me think of one of those fantail gold fish only longer, not so bulbous, perhaps it was only the flowing movement. I tapped Jory and he looked as well. We looked at each other and shrugged, certain the pilot would explain on landing which we did no more than 5 minutes later. When we mentioned our sighting, the pilot grew very excited. He had been flying in the area for about 15 years and had not yet seen the “Iliamna Lake Monster”. As our contact pulled up to us in his boat, we related the story to him as well. He asked me to estimate the size, I told him, “perhaps the size of your boat (Lund out board motor)”. He congratulated me, said he had seen it a number of times himself, and many times while traveling through Fox Bay. He said that some were smaller than his boat, others were larger. Later during our stay, we discussed the sighting with his wife as well. She spent the majority of her life not really believing in the monster (despite stories she had heard) but had to confess there was something there as later in life, she too spotted something in the water too large and fish-like to be a seal. Our associate then said he thought the fish may well be a type of sturgeon. (Written August 19, 2008)I have later looked at online photos of sturgeon and most seem to be too stiff-looking and spiky to be what I saw. I do not recall seeing many variations in pattern or color on the back (none actually) although my associate said he thought he had seen a flash of pink, which led him to believe the creature might be feeding on salmon. Also, in reviewing pictures of sturgeon, most do not seem to have quite the display of caudal or pectoral fins that I thought I saw. As mentioned above there was a moment when I thought I was looking at two seals twisting together, tails fanned out, and that combination might have allowed for the flurry of fins that I saw. Of all the photos I have viewed of sturgeon, …. it reminds me most of what I saw, more in body movement and tail fin than anything else. And the triangular head with a snubbed nose, rather than pointed also rings true. But what I saw did not have the white spines along the back, and it seemed that the pectoral fins were perhaps a little larger and slightly more medial to the center of the body. And it was a little thicker in shape, not so skinny. In other tellings, I have referred to the Plecostomus fish as an example of shape and movement and fin-size relative to the rest of the body.I cannot recall the exact length of time we watched the fish, but it must have been at least 15 – 20 seconds before I tapped Jory and we watched together. I do not recall the pilot’s name, but he was a floatplane pilot with Iliamna Air Taxi.April 29. 2005: The first I heard of the “Iliamna Lake Monster” was while in Kokhanok, April 29, 2005. I had arrived for a community meeting with Steve Braund & Associates and traveled there with Ralph Anderson. While waiting for the meeting to begin, I sat next to an Elder, and we spoke primarily about the meeting topic. But it was also a beautiful spring day, and as we gazed upon the lake, I asked him if he ever went swimming in the lake as a boy. He replied to the negative, saying that there had been warnings about swimming in the lake and that parents told their children to beware of the “Iliamna Lake Monster”. I laughed and asked if it was like the Loch Ness Monster, and he said no, it was just a big fish.Since my sighting close to a year ago, I have spoken with at least 3 other people who have seen the fish themselves on one or a number of occasions. All have credible testimony and had a clear enough view to determining that the fish they saw was the same as the fish I saw (size, color, shape, movement, behavior). I have also had the opportunity to speak with many other residents of the region who have heard of similar sightings or know people who claim to have seen the fish, or surface water phenomenon that indicate the presence of a large aquatic creature. I am continuing my investigation into other credible sightings at the time of this writing.Emma and Larry Hill – Larry has seen the fish a number of times, he was not specific of exactly how many, but often the sightings occurred near Fox Bay. He expressed interest in one day being able to see the fish, and in a recent conversation confessed that he had actually tried to catch it. In a phone conversation, Emma spoke of being aware of local knowledge of the fish and similar cautionary tales as told to the Kokhanok Elder while growing up. But in the beginning, she did not believe the tales. She recalls residents saying not to paint the bottoms of the boats red, for fear of angering or inciting the fish. But her father was from Bethel, and not being a “superstitious” man, he painted the bottom of his boat red (or let it remain red, as he had brought it with him when he moved to the area). She chuckles. She also recalls a time when the family set their net in the Bay during some rather turbulent conditions. The winds were blowing, and the surf was rough. They went to pull the net in, but it was gone. They marveled that the weather was rough enough to take the net away, cork, lead line and all. Then a couple of years later the corks washed to shore on their beach. It was much later in life that Emma saw something large, too large to be seal, in the water beside the boat.July 7, 2009, I called Kokhanok Village Council and spoke with the Village Administrator about what I had seen and what he knew of the fish. While he had not seen it himself, he knew of it, and had seen large wakes or what looked like breaches out on the lake that seemed too big to be made by the resident freshwater seals. He said he knew of plenty of other people who had seen the fish in the village. Many of the fishermen who are often out on the lake, but they were currently commercial fishing (in Bristol Bay) and could not be reached. He told me that someone in the community had found some strange and large bones on one of the Islands near Kokhanok. He asked me if I knew what a sturgeon skeleton looked like, in particular, vertebra (if it is indeed vertebra that the man found, it would not be from a sturgeon, as their internal skeletons are cartilaginous, like sharks). He was very interested in the topic of the fish, and the potential for verification or validation of its presence. I told him of the file kept by ADF&G Sport fish in Dillingham, but that no one had added any sighting since the late ‘80s. He replied “Reporting is not traditional, we just talk about it”. He also mentioned that media interest in sightings such as mine would confirm that “It’s not just a bunch of crazy villagers” that have seen the fish.July 11, 2009, flying from Iliamna to Port Alsworth I got to take the co-pilot seat next to Glen Alsworth Sr. He’s been flying out here for over 40 years. When I asked him if he ever got the chance to see a large fish in Lake Iliamna during his years working and living here. He looked at me funny and said, as a matter of fact just about a year ago, returning from Kokhanok he saw what he first took to be a seal in the relative shallows near the shore not long after take-off. But quickly he realized the creature he saw did not move like a seal. Instead of the up and down motion of a seal, this was a side-to-side motion, and it didn’t breach the surface. He said that seals have a small head and widen in the middle before tapering again at the tail. What he saw had a large wide head that definitely tapered all through the middle before reaching the tail. He told me, “what I saw had a head kind of like a blunted arrow-head, and yes, it was wide before tapering at the end and the creature had definite fins.” He estimated that the creature he saw was about 15 feet.River monsters: During the filming with the River Monsters crew, Larry told a story about the traditional history of how Lake Iliamna was formed. He said that if you look, the lake was actually the shape of a large fish. This fish had long ago lain in the soft new earth, somehow expiring there, perhaps thrown there by the ocean. As it died, it thrashed about, especially its tail, creating the tangle of isles and bays at the Northeast end of the lake. This area is also the deepest part of the lake. Larry said that the large fish that currently live in the lake are believed/said/could be explained to be the off-spring of that first large fish. Other parts of the conversation I could not hear as well. Larry said that this section of the lake was very deep; indeed, that there was rumored to be an underwater tunnel, connecting Iliamna to the Ocean. He also said that some depth meters have come up with quick readings of over 6,000 feet deep.I have not yet come across any references to Dena’ina oral history that involve the fish, or a large aquatic creature in Lake Iliamna. There does not seem to be any local knowledge of any great fish legends in the oral history aside from the creation of the lake, and the cautionary tales parents tell their children. Perhaps in part because of these tales, people who have not seen the fish themselves may be inclined to think of the fish as just something parents tell their children to make them behave, or that what people are actually seeing are the freshwater seals. But those sentiments change as soon as they see the fish themselves. And there does appear to be widespread knowledge and sightings of the fish in all the lake communities – Iliamna, Newhalen, Pedro Bay, Kokhanok, and Igiugig.Field Research Since 2016 Knik Tribe Chief Scientist, Bruce Wright, and Retired Colonel Army National Guard, Mark Stigar, have teamed up to investigate the Lake Iliamna monster phenomenon. Early in our investigations, we deployed hooks on a line secured to the beach which led to the near capture of the monster(s), destruction of much of the fishing gear, and our deciding we didn’t want to harm the animal.The Lake Iliamna monster severed this ganoin, tangled the lines, and bent stainless steel snaps. Based on what we saw that day, we decided we were wrong to catch such a magnificent animal and would attempt to catch it on our video cameras.So, we purchased camera systems, some of which have high-intensity lights and a protective housing allowing for deployment in 10,000 feet of water (baited camera trap), and smaller camera systems deployed in less than 200 feet of water using ambient light.Mark Stigar attaching the light-camera system to the camera trap.The thousands of hours of video data we have collected have revealed the mysteries of the deepest parts of the lake, at just over 1,000 feet deep, of a smooth sediment-covered flat bottom with a constant ‘snow’ of phytoplankton much like what one sees in the ocean.This image is of the camera trap bait pole (See bait dangling from the pole’s end?) and the cloud of plankton in the lights.Various fish and invertebrates have been seen in the shallow and deep including copepods, crustaceans, salmon fry, sticklebacks, sculpin, and adult salmon. Occasionally, seals visit the camera trap system but avoid eating the bait. In 2021 we hosted a film crew and for 2022 we have already set plans for our fieldwork around the time the sockeye salmon move into the lake.A seal looking into the camera. The camera trap bait pole extends 4 feet in front of the camera and has bait hanging from the end. Note the small freshwater sculpin ‘resting’ on the bait pole.A stickleback swims off the end of the bait pole.Newspaper storiesAlaska Lake Monster May Be Giant Sleeper Shark, Biologist ClaimsBy Lee Speigel05/08/2012 10:07am EDT | Updated December 6, 2017https://www.huffpost.com/entry/alaska-lake-monster_n_1475626Fresh evidence that Alaska’s Iliamna Lake monster is a Pacific sleeper shark? (+VIDEO)By Bruce WrightUpdated: December 2, 2017, Published: June 23, 2012https://www.adn.com/features/article/fresh-evidence-alaskas-iliamna-lake-monster-pacific-sleeper-shark-video/2012/06/24/Effort seeks to uncover lake’s purported monsterBy ALEX DeMARBAN Anchorage Daily News, May 15, 2019https://www.jhnewsandguide.com/jackson_hole_daily/state_and_regional/effort-seeks-to-uncover-lakes-purported-monster/article_7df21040-a85a-5457-a002-7db209cb10ed.htmlInside one man’s quest to photograph the elusive ‘Iliamna Lake monster’By Alex DeMarbanUpdated: May 8, 2019Published: May 5, 2019https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/rural-alaska/2019/05/05/inside-one-mans-quest-to-photograph-the-elusive-iliamna-lake-monster/Pride of Bristol Bay: Catching the Iliamna Lake Monster“I was skeptical. I’m not skeptical anymore.”Thursday, October 29, 2020, NEWS ALASKA OUTDOORSBy Bjorn Dihlehttps://www.juneauempire.com/news/pride-of-bristol-bay-catching-the-iliamna-lake-monster/New Sighting of Lake Iliamna CryptidAuthor: Bob Bird | August 31, 2020https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBcXq54WwLwTelevision StoriesAlaska Triangle, The Alaska Loch Ness Monsterhttps://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0927WGLRH/ref=atv_dp_sign_suc_3PSightings in Lake Iliamnahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBcXq54WwLwALSAKA’S LAKE MONSTERhttps://vimeo.com/359662168Password: studiosContactBruce WrightChief Scientist, Knik [email protected] More Posts Arctic Council November 19, 2021 Amchitka Biological Monitoring Program December 14, 2021 Hazard Mitigation Plan for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) February 7, 2022 Endangered Cook Inlet Beluga Whale Research Team February 7, 2022 Endangered Cook Inlet Beluga Whale Research February 7, 2022 Load More Message Us Full Name Phone Email … truncated (136 more characters in archive)