The Illamna Lake Monster

The Iliamna Lake Monster

By: Zephan O

Lake Iliamna is located in a remote region of southwest Alaska. The lake is not accessible by road so the only way to get there is by float plane or boat. It has a maximum length of 77 miles (142km) and a maximum width of 22 miles (35km) making it the largest lake in Alaska and the second largest lake in America. The lake’s greatest depth is 988 feet (301km). The lake is home to a variety of fish, but there is some evidence that suggests something else may be swimming in the waters of Lake Iliamna. For decades people have reported seeing mysterious creature swimming in the lake. Such reports remain unexplained. The creature has been named the Iliamna Monster. The monster may be part of Alaska native mythology.

The Iliamna Lake Monster

The Aleut people tell of terrifying fish monsters called “Ji-gik-nak” which hunted in packs and would kill hunters canoeing on the lake. “Ji-gi-nak” were feared by the Aleuts, and they avoided hunting on the lake. The Tlingit people told of a monster that inhabited lake Iliamna called the Gunakadeit. The Gunakadeit was allegedly a person that transformed into a lake monster and saved his village from starvation. Strange monsters are ubiquitous in Alaska native mythology, and it is unclear whether such stories are based on real experiences or if they were no more than horror stories to be told around a campfire at night. Alaska native folklore does not distinguish between fact and fiction but recent sightings are more reliable as sources of evidence for the existence of the monster.

Sightings of the Iliamna Monster have occurred for decades. In 1979 Anchorage Daily News offered a $1000,000 reward for anyone who could prove the existence of the creature. Notable sightings are listed below.

1942: Babe Alyseworth and Bill Hammersely were flying over Lake Iliamna when they spotted some peculiar tiny specs in the water. They came in closer and saw the specs were actually dull-aluminum colored fish with broad blunt heads. When they spiraled down closer they found out there was probably a few dozen of them. Each one was about 10 feet long. The width of the fish's’ heads were the same as the width of their bodies. Their tales moved side to side like fish, whales move their tails up and down.

1945: U.S Coastal and Geographic Survey pilot Larry Rost was flying 100 feet above the lake when he saw a 20 foot long dull-aluminum colored fish.

1963: A biologist saw a 25-30 foot long fish in the water. It did not come up for air.

1967: Alaskan Missionary Chuck Carpuchettes saw the creature once while flying over the lake. Later, he and a friend decided to fish for it. 5/16 inch stainless steel cables attached to tuna hooks, which were baited with caribou meat, were tied to a float plane. Something with incredible strength bit and toed the plane around the lake. When the plane was recovered the cables were gone and the tuna hooks had been straightened out.

   

1988: A community of people on the northwest shore of the lake saw  a large fish in the water. One witness said she saw that it had a fin with a white strip along it.

1997: Veteran taxi air taxi pilot Tim LaPorte and two other passengers were flying a few hundred feet over the lake when they spotted a large fish lying still on the surface. They flew in closer. The passengers and the pilot estimated the fish to be 12-14 feet long. It had dark grey or brown skin. One of the passengers saw the fish dive out of sight as the plane got closer.

The above list does not include every encounter with the creature, but it does include the most notable ones. There are also accounts of people being knocked out of boats, possibly as the result of impact of a large fish jumping out of the water.

There are many theories as to what the Iliamna lake monster could be. Many people believe that large fish called white sturgeons are responsible for the encounters. White sturgeons are bottom-dwelling fish that inhabit estuaries, lakes, bays, and slow-moving rivers of  the west coasts of america, from the Aleutian Islands to Central California. White sturgeons can be as long as twenty feet and weigh up to 1,799 pounds and can live for as long as one hundred years. White sturgeons have been known to jump out of the water and accidentally hit boats, this would explain why boats have been knocked over. The fact that white sturgeon spend most of their time on the bottom of bodies of water would explain the rarity of sightings.  

Another possible candidate is the pacific sleeper shark: a carnivore and scavenger that inhabits the north pacific (see habitat range below). Pacific sleeper sharks can survive in freshwater but the amount of time they can survive in freshwater is unknown. The longest pacific sleeper shark ever found was 14 feet long, but biologists say that they might be able grow as long as 23 feet. There is a lot that science does not known about pacific sleeper sharks. Little is known about their reproduction and their diet has not been thoroughly studied, but the remains of marine mammals such as porpoises have been found in the stomachs of pacific sleeper sharks, this suggests pacific sleeper sharks are highly aggressive predators. Neither pacific sleeper sharks, nor White sturgeon have been officially documented as species that inhabit the lake, but lake Iliamna is huge and easily capable of providing a habitat of either of the two possible candidates.

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