Seals and the serpent connection ,this is ground breaking work, others have suggested seals and other pinnipeds and whales and dolphins as being possible responsable causes for some lake monsters ,however a article this in depth and some what proving this has never been done, here is a amazing amount of bodies of freshwater that have seals reported to live in it or have been wittnessed or photographed or filmed.
We will first start off with freshwater proven year around populations of seals.
Lake Bical, Russia, the largest lake by water volume in the world and home to the lake Bical seal” Phoca sibirica”, also has water monster reports as well as walrus sightings, the lake Bical seal can get around 1.3 meters in length and 150 pounds ,they have a steel gray coat and sometimes spotted variation, pollution and other factors some years kill of some of the population, trapping, poaching as well and hopefully they stop polluting this great lake.
Lake Ladoga Russia,” Phoca hispida ladogensis”, similar in size and shape as the lake saimaa seal ,5 feet and 150 pounds or so estimate population 5000 to 15000
Lake Saimaa , Finland ,this landlocked population of freshwater seals” phoco hispida saimensis",the population is rough guess of around 1000 or more of them, they can get nearer 150 pounds or so, five feet or so in length.
Lake Oulujärvi, also seals same as lake Saimaa they all interconnect
Vuoksi interconnect with Saimaa as well and sightings occured.
The St Lawrence river, there is probably way more seals in the St Lawrence then is known ,now even though they are seals coming from the St Lawrence seaway and may not live year round in the river, there may be a population of full time freshwater ones as well, there was a population in Lake On, a seal colony up to the early 1800s, I highly suspect they never fully died out and maybe after being slaughtered so much the small amount left adapted by being much more shy to humans.
Spotted seals have been observed to hide from man ,even the sound of a man walking on the shore and the seal is hundreds of yards away have been known to disappear at the slightest sound, also many sightings over the years of shark fins, seals and other odd creatures have been seen in lake On and the ST Lawrence and likely they are either new visitors from the seaway or maybe some are from a relic population of days gone by ,either case the population in lake ON was well documented and probably was a distinct species or sub species.
Lake Ilimana Alaska ,home to famed water monster - giant fish, also home to seals and other pinnipeds ,more research should be done and genetic testing to see if the seals or other pinnipeds reported from that lake are different then sea going ones, a awesome film on U tube shows a Pinnipeds in lake Ilimana acting like a sea serpent and from far away this would explain the neck and humps people see.
Lac De loup “,Phoca vitulina mellonae”, a lake that is in Quebec that freezes solid in winter and has a landlocked population of seals that was not even excepted as real by science until recent times, it was first mentioned by travelers in the 1700s working for the Hudson bay, and other similar outfits knew about this animal and has been known for ages by Natives, many other bodies of water near that area have seal reports such as the River deloup.
Ottawa river, a specimen of seal was captured in the 1800s, very few sightings since dam made, odd large waves and bubbling over large distances and going in different patterns have been witnessed although a visitor most likely, it is possible there was at one time before logging a small population ,early tales have some that sound like they were a seal that was described.
Ottawa river, a porpoise was reported found dead in the Ottawa river by ice fisherman who snagged it in a hole ,it probably died because of lack of breathing holes or maybe some other reason.
Lake Simcoe ,many reports of a large seal like animal ,even a film was shot of the creature, this film was not proven , however very likely real,Bafis river, seal and whales are known to go way up freshwater in the Bafis river.
Sakonnet river, seals reported,Hudson river, seals, walrus and manatee, all have been captured or photographed or witnessed by many
Hakensak river, mangrove river, River Conan, River Annan, Norwalk river,Cheral river Alaska, seals found far up river
Thames River, whales ,seals ,dolphins, porpoise, all have been seen photographed or captured ,Taunton river seals ,River mercy ,River lune, Pambula river, Ghanges river, Yangtze river, Saitama river, River Ribble, , Bronx river a beaver spotted for the first time in 200 years in New york ,although off subject I chucked it in to show that even other mammals can visit areas way off their habitat or repopulate areas they were extinct in, like in this case maybe or possibly they simply are very low in numbers and have escaped notice.
Yokohama river, seal, Lake Athabasca, monster and pinnipeds sightings ,Great slave lake ,monster and pinnipeds sightings, River ouse Ireland ,Amadjuak Lake, Koukdjuak River ,Lake Titicaca in Peru, manatee or seal ,Lake Tana in Ethiopia, Lake Chad
Lake Yoan in Chad, Lake Bunyoni ,fur seals known population, Barnes lake Alaska ,Caspian sea known population although brackish in most parts they still are different then seals from the ocean.
Volga river, Nettilling Lake, Bafin island ,Little seal lake, cryptid seal probably distinct species, Labrador putuukuarluteng cryptid seal ,Tadule lake 300 miles in land seals ,Nobiecho seal Manitoba ,may be separate species,Clearwater Lake seal, Murrumbridge Rivers seal, Australia.
Lochness, home of the famous monster, many seals have been photographed in Lochness and they are very common and in many cases may be responsible for the Lochness monster more on that below ,here is many more bodies of water that have either photos or many sightings of seals or they have been captured or filmed ,some are brackish but most are miles from the nearest ocean some thousands of miles inland.
River Moriston, Scotland Lake Shiel ,Lake Hope ,Lake Maree, Loch Awe, Loch Morar, Loch Lochy, River Spey
River Deveron, , Don River ,Dee River Tay ,Umpqua River in Oregon,Lake Yanda a preserved crab eater seal was found 20 miles from ocean inland.
The Streathaven River ,Welsh River, River Severn ,River Thames ,seals ,walrus ,whales, the whole gang goes in this river often.
Yellowstone lake, may have been a otter although one sighting was by a credited animal expert and makes you wonder how he could make a mistake like this , maybe there is a cryptid seal in Yellowstone lake?
Harbour seal ,on the banks of the River Thames, River Wharfe, Port Elgin river, Gaspereau River ,River Exe in Devon
Delaware River, seal, River Derwent ,River Ouse, Pittee Creek Marsh ,salmon fishing river ,River Wharfe ,River Leven
Russian River,Orinoco River, Orange river, Africa ,River Medway ,bottle nosed dolphin ,River Teifi welsh
Seadog, a cryptid like seal ,Australia is the habitat of this seal like creature with the head the size of a moose reported
There is actually many unnamed lakes with seal sightings in Quebec and Manitoba and OnT as well as BC CANADA, I have many more I do not want to put any more for the time being.
,I am concerned about some of these bodies of water small size and listing them may cause people to search for them and may cause damage ,more areas like in Australia, New Zealand as well with reports of seals or similar pinnipeds ,lakes from Switzerland ,Germany ,Africa ,Greenland ,many places around the globe have a few reports of way word seals being seen or that are thought to live year around in some of them, amazingly many of these same lakes have water monster sightings as well and because these seals or similar pinnipeds and even dolphins ,whales from time to time go in freshwater, known population of belugas often go way up the St Lawrence.
Types of seals and other similar creatures that have been captured or filmed or photographed or witnessed by many people in fresh water or brackish environments most are fully freshwater is amazing.
Large otters and dolphins and other similar mammals have also been captured ,photographed in many locations across the world ,here is some more dolphin like animals found in lakes rivers.
Irrawaddy River Dolphin, although not a true year round freshwater dolphin it does spend a large amount of time in freshwater sections, Ganges river dolphin is a fully freshwater dolphin ,Yangtze river dolphin may be extinct or near although they claim that often then find the species again so it may be still around ,update a man filmed one jumping in the Yangtze recently and as I suspected it is not extinct ,St Lawrence and river Thames ,Amazon river, this is a true freshwater dolphin, even some lakes in Finland have had sightings by reliable wittinesses that it was a dolphin, some large rivers in the US have had dolphins found or photographed.
Africa and some other countries like Australia have had dolphins found way up rivers ,also in India ,china and South America including several described that may be unknown to science , as you can see this is a world wide phenomena that is very common and interestingly also many of the lakes that these animals have been found also have lake monster reports .
A new species of freshwater Manatee has been discovered not far from a highway in south america these gentle beasts live in shallow fast water stream , is that not amazing that a larger mammal like this evades our detection and is a slow moving creature amazes the mind how animals of this size evade us.
Here is some of the 30 known species and their typical size and characteristics, then we will go in to some very little known behavior of seals , these are small amounts of info I have collected over the ages of different research and talking with people, this research had nothing to do with cryptozoology and it was done mostly by different groups to test seal behavior , this article can put it in to a logical order and show a pretty good case for this theory.
Here is just some of over 30 of the worlds pinnipeds and some general info.
Pusa hispida, Ringed seal many sub species like Bical and other lakes.
Ringed seals are the most common to be known in freshwater environments ,some types live year around in freshwater lakes ,they also are known to have been photographed or captured in many lakes that have monster sightings, although smaller they have been photographed often in freshwater and there may be a larger unknown variety to science that could explain the sightings.
.jpg)
Australian seal , this creature reaches 225 centimeters and over 600 pounds, considered to be one of the rarest seals ,this creature probably was responsible for some of the Bunyip sightings of the early outback days of the 16 and 1700s and up to 1800s ,after that Bunyip sightings got very low or it may have been a similar freshwater variety of pinnipeds or a pouched variety .
.jpg)
Bearded seal, they can attain lengths of 93 inches or more and over 600 pounds, mostly from the bearing strait region ,they have been photographed ,captured or reported by reliable wittinesses that this was the species seen in the freshwater, highly likely to be responsible for some reports
.jpg)
Harp seal, St Lawrence to arctic ,north Atlantic, they have a wide area and often have been found up freshwater rivers although smaller species they may be responsible in some cases
.jpg)
Leopard seal, Antarctic waters, Size 10 ft long or so, they can weigh over 750 pounds and have a reptilian like appearance ,this is another creature responsible for many water monster sightings likely, if 2 or 3 were in a row they would look like a long monster and because of their swimming and movements it may make them look like a serpent in some cases.
Northern elephant seal,” Mirounga angustirostris”, this is one of the highest likely candidates, not only has this species been photgraphed, wittnessed in many bodies of freshwater, the size of it fits most monster as well, most agree they can get to over 15 feet in length in some cases and over 5000 pounds, in the white river sightings and photos make it look highly likely.
The southern variety of elephant seal may also be the culprit ,many of the habits of this animal was
mentioned by different wittinesses in many cases ,actual capture or clear photo's proves this was the species in some cases, they have been found even way up rivers in Australia, Canada and the USand many other places.
Northern fur seal, Callorhinus ursinus ,this species can attain weight of over 500 pounds and over 215 cm long in some cases ,mostly Russian region, they have been found in a few cases thousands of miles from that region or been spotted or photographed off course or in freshwater.
Stellars sea lions , these beasts can get over 11 feet in length and around 2500 pounds ,mostly in colder Alaskan region they have been found to BC, so again here you have a creature known to go up rivers and is known to reach far up rivers before in a large amount of areas from different parts of the world.
Walrus, Odobenus rosmarus ,These great beasts have been captured or photographed or witnessed in a large variety of waters across the world, besides a few cryptids types no known walrus lives in freshwater year around that is proven, they can get very large ,they can get over 12 feet in length, I have read of walrus reported over 15 feet long, there is 2 subspecies the Atlantic and pacific walrus, both have been known to go up freshwater bodies of water from time to time and have been spotted in Loch Morar, Ness and other famous monster lakes.
If a few entered the system at the same time and were playing ,they would look from far away like a monster and if one was behind the other it would appear maybe as one and may look over 25 feet in length, if they were larger examples they could and probably are responsible for some of the reports ,they hunch up and down like caterpillars almost and would explain the up and down humps people see in some reports..
Weddel seal ,these creatures can get to 12 feet long and 500 pounds or so in weight, they live year around in the Antarctic and have been found in areas way off course from time to time ,another possible species for some water monster reports.
Many other species may be responsible for many sightings, as you can see this is a very common occurrence and highly likely is the bases of many lake monster sightings ,although not all, i will go through some theories and show you little known behavior by freshwater seals and other animals that most likely are the explanation and in a few rare cases they may be a unknown species to science.
Freshwater seal habits ,some of the species that have been captured or are known to live year around in some of the lakes have been shown to be able to break up to 7 feet or more of thick ice in the ocean and lakes like Bical and make breathing holes ,this has even been proven with underwater cameras ,they smash there heads in to the ice until they make a breathing hole ,some species can stay underwater for over 2 hours.
Some species are known to stay over 90 percent of the time in the water ,some over 90 percent of the time underwater ,this would account for why in some lakes if it is only a visitor that it is wittnessed here and there and a monster legend arrives, this shows that they can live in all the lakes were monsters are reported ,they can smash their heads through thick ice easily ,in my region it rarely ever goes thicker then 3 to 4 feet or so , easily one could survive in muskrat lake or similar lakes and may only visit from time to time.
Populations of pure freshwater seals arewittnessed more often because they are much more numerous and live in the lake year around and this is why likely not as many or no monster reports from the bodies of water.
The locals know what they are, while lakes not known to have seals yet have been proven to have been in them or spotted enough times that it is within reason this is what they seen ,these lakes often also have monster reports in them as well as many rivers have monster and seal reports.
They also may readily use holes by ice fisherman in some lakes in Quebec and other bodies of water were pinnipeds have been reported ,oddly I have heard odd tales from time to time of people claiming they witnessed a head of some animal looked like a big rat otter like animal ice fishing ,maybe they witnessed a seal in lake Simcoe instead of a big muskrat.
2
Freshwater seals have been shown to dig holes in snowbanks along wind blown shores and then block the holes and you cannot even tell they entered the bank or made a hole, this could be why the animal can hide and live through winter they may go in snow banks in some larger lakes like Simcoe and be making tunnels in the banks and covering them up.
Researchers had a very hard time finding seals in some known freshwater populations tested ,they had dogs sniffing and missing some of them that were discovered at a later date in the same area they checked, so this would show also that they can hide very easily from man ,especially if it is only a visitor and again the muskrat lake creature could be doing this ,there is also a cave in muskrat lake.
I witnessed a very large object on a sonar that was near 10 feet in length and moved under the boat in deep water, it could have been a giant sturgeon ,or I think a seal in muskrat lake, also another person visited the lake and got a large sonar reading, some species of shrimp in muskrat lake are only in this lake and survived from thousands of years ago, interestingly known freshwater seals have been shown to feed off similar freshwater shrimp in other lakes were found in their stomach contents.
This also shows that seals can live for long amounts of time in freshwater and commonly enter it much more then what has been known, it may be that some of these lakes had large populations at one time and then hunters in old times cut them down and they adapted by changing their habits and became more cryptid in nature and maybe because of the shear size of some of the known year round lakes with seals that so many are present they cannot hide themselves or not enough of the stock has learned a more cryptid lifestyle.
Seals ,their movements in the water may be the cause of people seeing a monster often ,here is a basic drawing now depending on time of year and what species it would be and size of the animal and habit of the particular seal or similar animal may lead to a variety of sightings, this also explains why people see different colors and size and shapes because many seals although similar have different size and habits and especially if a few were in the lake like that was filmed on muskrat lake they may naturally hang around and when jumping or playing may look like a monster by their behavior of swimming at the time.
Some times of year they are more active and spotted more often, or it could be that because most people spend time in the summer months on lakes this may be more in active for them and only because of large amounts of visitors is the odd one sighted here is a little diagram.
They may move in different ways depending on size etc and could look different to people under a variety of light conditions and may make them look like they have hair, or they may think they are thinner or longer or fatter ,what ever the case and this is why so many odd different sightings are given ,a recent one in the Delaware river, a giant green monster was spotted and it ended up being a huge Elephant seal and real.
Also some lakes like Simcoe and other similar lakes with seal like creatures may also survive with thick frozen over ice by using holes by ice fisherman, although I am sure they may have to ram their heads from time to time, however I am sure if the breathing hole is available and they don't have to why would they?
Many tales and even photos of strange ice holes found broken in rivers and lakes across the world, they may be by unknown or known Pinnipeds or thought to be extinct pinniped making breathing holes.
Maybe some lakes could be proven by making ice holes in areas in lakes were lake monsters have been witnessed and if the lake freezes ,use underwater cameras and maybe leave them there, maybe use some kind of battery or similar device to keep the hole unfrozen and maybe this would attract a seal.
They may be smart enough to sense the sound of your footsteps over the hole ,some species like spotted seals have been known to bolt at the slightest sound ,even if the human is far from the seal and this is why they are nor reported being seen in a ice hole except in a few rare cases , if you left the area the cryptid seals may want to use the ice holes ,it could be possible it may work, maybe use some kind of known friendly recording sound of a seal, it should be one that would be attractive to a seal and not a recording of a seal frightened ,this may spook them ,anyhow it could be worth a try especially in some lakes in Sweden or Canadian lakes with seal reports.
Some photos showing the flexibility of the seal and some of their swimming habits etc.
Here a walrus backwards ,if you witnessed that coming at you tail first you must admit it looks like a monster ,even to me lol and I could see people mistaking this as one at a distance.
Walrus ,if you witnessed that thing come up out of the water in a muddy river or diving, don't tell me you would not bolt if the water was muddy and you could only see a outline ,a large one would make a large sonar reading and many unexplained large sonar readings have been recorded in lakes with monster reports or people diving saying they witnessed some kind of monster in dirty rivers like the Ohio etc.
If the Walrus was upside down his tusks would look like horns, often kelpies and other sightings mention horns they may have witnessed a walrus swim upside down which they often do,maybe even the odd time weeds occur around the walrus tusk and give illusion of hair to the wittiness.
Some species of seal's have been captured in rivers that were thousands of miles from the seals normal range ,this shows they can travel massive distances and have been found hundreds to some cases thousands of miles inland , this may be why many variety of size and colors of monsters are witnessed, different varieties of seals or similar would have many varieties of colors and sizes, also there may be a few unknown variety of seals entering freshwater, a lake in New Brunswick Canada called lake Utopia it had lake monster reports for years and trails from the lake to the ocean .
Sightings died down after a bridge was put over the area were the creature would leave the lake ,sounds like it was a seal or walrus from descriptions or maybe a long necked form of unknown seal ,many reports from the white river in Arkansas was highly likely a elephant seal the northern or southern variety or similar Pinnipeds ,photos exist and the descriptions highly match this species.
Also odd collections of seals found in museums, some are of unknown and not classified specimens and some have had being marked they were collected in a river or freshwater lake, maybe some museums have unknown Pinnipeds in their collections.
Many Swedish and European lakes from Yugoslavia, Poland ,Russia ,Germany ,Ireland ,Scotland ,you hear of tales of this nature and even often proof of some species of seal being photographed ,this is most likely the reason for these lake monster reports however not all,next other species that also contribute to this phenomena.
How seals and other large mammals may reach thousands of miles from their home ,they may drift on ice flows and then ocean currents take them to distant areas and then they swim to the nearest land mass , then they may go up a river or crawl over land to a lake or river etc, this could of happened with many species drifting by storms or ice flows.
This may be in some case how seals and our budy the polar bear,or others find their way to distant land or by drifting out to sea from a storm etc.
Copyright DAR 1995, 2000 ,2007.
Most photos are the authors personal photos and drawings, some animal and seal photos were presented as royalty free, if there is a issue for any photo on here tell the author by email and it will be removed, however they are used to just show what the seal species looks like and can be omitted with ought effecting the peace at all.
Next other things they can be.
Contact the author with sightings photo at Dartheresearcher@gmail.com
Seals and the serpent connection
Lake Monsters of North America
Case for Little apes in North America
Worldwide Cryptozoology list always under production not edited fully.
Dinosaurs corpses and Sea-monsters
Crazytails,tales of the strange, a compiled list of the authors favorite cryptozoology stories with a much more local flavor, some very serious others not ,from talking Bigfoot to several beer drinking Bigfoot and many other tales of the bizarre from Canada and other locals as well as space aliens and other odds and ends of the strange
-
Copyright 1995,2000,2005,2007 the writings and photos or drawings or other digital form or none digital is copyrighted several older photos with the copyright not on it have been presented as no longer copyright or royalty free any of my photos or drawings with my copyright on them or on the site for written work on any pages of my site are copyrighted unless pictures or drawings or other digital graphic that do not contain a copyright those media digital or other forms have been presented as royalty free or no longer copyright any dispute to that contact the author and he will remove if you own rights to the media form.
Some pictures are very old and of no known origin or have been presented as royalty free on the site, in the spirit of helping out young researchers for their school projects they may use my art work that has my copyright on it, however any of my copyrighted work cannot be used for profit and cannot be changed in any manner and the authors copyright must stay on the art work and you must credit the author for the pictures and or drawings in any electronic on none electronic form and may not be reproduced except for a school project and in limited numbers under 3 copies and you may use small sections as a reference under 2 paragraphs of the whole sites content for a school project for children under 19 years of age and only up to 3 copies, any other researchers wanting to use my art work or make references you may contact the author and ask permission ,if the author grants this you must include a link to the authors site, anyone is free to link to the authors site as long as it is not a adult site or offensive material the author reserves all rights.
Please contact the author if you have ever sighted a mystery animal or a photo i can use etc on the site.
Links this page is not done and some links may not work and only up for reference
Copyright DAR 1995 2000 ,2007.
Copyright DAR 2007 ,most photos and drawing paintings etc are property of the author, a few old photos have been presented as not being copyright any further or as royalty free any problem with any of the photos contact the author by email and it will be removed if you own the right to it