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Most people are aware of the Loch Ness Monster, and many have heard of Lake Okanagan's Ogopogo, but Lake Erie's own mysterious sea creature is much less well-known.
Known as South Bay Bessie, the elusive sea serpent has been widely reported on Erie's south shore over the years, in Ohio lakeside locations including Akron, Sandusky Point and Cedar Point. In Huron, Ohio, the monster is so much a part of local lore that since 1984, a life-size floating replica has been seasonally anchored in the waters off the Huron River. In Cleveland, the Great Lakes Brewing Company sells a beer called 'Lake Erie Monster Double IPA'.
On the Canadian shore, a rash of biting incidents from an unknown aquatic creature plagued the tiny beachside community of Port Dover in 2001. According to an article by Graham Marsden, editor of FishingMagic.Com, at least three persons, including Port Dover resident Brenda McCormack, a man and a child were bitten in a 24-hour period. The physician who treated the man at the time, Dr. Harold Hynscht, ruled out lamprey eels, snapping turtles, walleye, goby or muskellunge fish -- even escaped pet piranhas. Whatever it was, he said, it was "a big honking fish." Dr. Hynscht suggested the aggressive, 60 centimetre-long bowfin fish as the culprit, but couldn't be certain. Others proposed – only half-jokingly – the Lake Erie monster.
The first documented sightings of the creature occurred as far back as July 1817, when the crew of a schooner reported a 30 to 40-foot long serpent, dark in colour. Later that year, another boat crew spotted a similar animal, this time copper-coloured and 60 feet in length. This time, they shot at it with muskets, which had no visible effect.
A third 1817 incident took place near Toledo, when French settlers – two brothers named Dusseau -- encountered a huge monster on the beach, writhing in what they took to be its death throes. The brothers described it as between 20 and 30 feet in length and shaped like a large sturgeon, except that it had arms. The panicked brothers fled the scene, and when they returned later, the creature had disappeared, presumably carried off by waves after its death. All that was left of its presence were marks on the beach and a number of silver scales about the size of silver dollars.
Since then, there have been more than 15 sightings of the creature, with at least five of those occurring as late as the 1990s. The most recent event was reported from Madison Township in Lake County Ohio in 2004. Most of the accounts are similar, describing a snakelike body, 30 to 40 feet in length, dark in colour and swimming with a wavy motion. Some witnesses say the serpent has "humps".
Interestingly, there may be evidence describing the serpent's presence from long before the first recorded sighting. The Seneca Indians, natives of the area of Niagara Falls, tell a legend of the Good Spirit and the Evil Spirit. In this legend, the Evil Spirit "controlled a huge Water Serpent that lived in the Niagara River and Lake Erie."
Beyond eyewitness accounts and oral history, however, little or no proof supporting Bessie's existence has surfaced. That may change, however, with the advent of the internet and the proliferation of low-cost web-cams. At least one website – MonsterTracker.Com – has set up a number of real-time internet cameras strung across a number of strategic sites on Erie's shore, from Wainfleet, Ontario in the east to Kelly's Island, Ohio, in the west.
