Thursday, July 12, 2001

Ogopogo spotted near Pentowna Marina
The Peachland Signal
By Ross McDermott

"What's that in the lake?"

That was the question that echoed in this reporter's mind when, while quietly standing on the rocks facing south at Pentowna Marina, a shadow below the surface of the lake approximately 60 to 70 km off shore, rose to the surface producing swells, and broke the softly rippling water. The resulting phenomenon is something which can only be called an unidentified swimming object (USO).

At exactly 2:15 p.m., Monday July 9, 2001, this reporter saw what he believes to be the legendary lake creature Ogopogo.

The day was hot, the sky was clear (as was my head, in case anyone was wondering), and the lake surface was relatively calm.

As I stood at the south end of the local marina, my eyes were drawn to a large shadow hovering beneath the surface of the water about half a football field from my vantage point. I raised my Minolta X-37N, single-reflex lens camera to my eye, already mounted with 200mm zoom lens, and watched in fascination as the water around the shadow began to roll and ripple with mild turbulence.

I maintained my concentration. A part of me, the part that still tenaciously clings to a belief that there is more between heaven and earth than human kind will ever know, was excited and eager. I watched through the camera lens as the water above the shadowy presence looming just beneath the surface began to churn and ripple.

Being a reporter in Peachland for just shy of two years, I'm quite familiar with the legend of the lake creature and it's home across the lake at Rattlesnake Island.

I carefully focused my SLR, hoping this would be that $2 million photo -hoping that N'ha-a-itk, as she was once called by area natives, would rear her prehistoric head and smile for the camera. But it seems the lake creature was not too obliging on this day. However, as I remained focused on the area in question, something thick and black, glistening in the sun, broke the surface for just a breath longer than a second, providing me the opportunity to take the accompanying photograph. For some, the photo could appear to be an errant wave: a common occurrence on the lake. To others it's a sturgeon, even though that species of fish has never been proven to exist in Okanagan Lake: come to think of it, neither has Ogopogo.

Granted, the photo is far from definitive, and even in my mind there is some doubt as to what I actually saw, and strangely enough, the more time that passes the more uncertain I become, and yet when I look at the photo I ask myself: "What's that in the lake?"

Honestly, I don't know.

Lake creature?

That question is still echoing in the mind of this photographer as this image was captured earlier this week. Could it be the legendary Ogopogo? We may never know for sure.