Looks like this post is stale, but have you seen this 2009 video at this website--

http://champmonster.com/

I'm no expert-- not even a scientist-- so I may not know anything, but a few thoughts and observations I'd like to share if anyone's interested 2 years later--

Most all the lakes these creatures are reported to have been seen in are very deep freshwater lakes in temperate climates with definite winter freezes.

So-- first-- do they have to get through the ice to get air? I'd really like to know. Is this an issue? If they can't get through the ice, is it possible that each of these lakes have an underground / underwater cave that these creatures get into, where there is fresh air available? At Loch Ness I would particularly find this to be possible. (And for that matter, having never been to Scotland, I'm not positive that Loch Ness does freeze over each year, but I'm guessing it does, or at least used to before they started using it for regular barge traffic last century).

Secondly, can anyone answer this-- how do fish survive the frigid arctic waters, and the waters of frozen over lakes in the far north? Fish are cold-blooded animals. Frogs and other amphibians hibernate and actually freeze and thaw out in the spring in some cases. So-- could plesiosaurs not have some way of dealing with cold water without being warm blooded?

Another question-- since these lakes are extremely deep-- just how cold is the water in the bottom of the lake? I don't know just how this works-- I do know that if you dig down into the earth, the inside of the earth is a constant temperature under the crust all year round-- generally about 50 degrees Fehrenheit or so. When water freezes, it freezes from the top down. Is all the water in a deep lake the same temperature in wintertime? If the lake is 800 feet deep, and the weather outside is 0 degrees Fehrenheit for six weeks straight (with the normal variation above and below that; I grew up in New England, so I know the climate), what is the temperature at the bottom of the lake, and at the top of the lake right under the ice? Any ideas about this?

And furthermore, from looking at Plesiosaur fossils, do we have any proof that they are not mammals? They are not in the same taxonic family as any known living creature-- and the order of Mamalia has many varied creatures in it, including whales, seals, manatees, platypuses, elephants, sloths, marsupials, giraffes, hippos, and so on. From what we know of Plesiosaurs they may have had many of the same features as those creatures so named. Otherwise, Plesiosaurs and dinosaurs (and pterodactyls, and so on) may have also been in their own order-- a new and unknown "sixth" order in the phylum Chordata. These could very well be warm-blooded, they may or may not be monotremes, they may or may not nurse their young, they may or may not have hair or feathery coverings, they could have sonar or infrared abilities, they might have internal organ arrangements we've never observed or studied before, and so on.

I really do want to see one captured or cornered to be documented.

If it were up to me, I would be in favor of a tranquilizing and retrieval session, where the creature is tranquilized (hopefully while in shallower water), brought to the surface, taken to shore or onto a large boat, studied carefully, radio-tagged, well documented by as many witnesses as possible, and carefully released back into the lake (or loch, if you prefer! ) to help preserve the species. We would need to not do anything that might endanger its life or health (even the tranquilizer dart would be a risk-- how do we know it wouldn't be allergic to it?). Also, since, as Tom (I think) pointed out, they need to breed to maintain the species, so we would need to be sure to release it back into its environment before any harm befall it. We would not know how many of them there were in the lake, so every single one is necessary to maintain the gene pool.

If it was radio tagged, then it could be tracked from boats, etc. and studied more in the wild. Its habits could be learned, and it may just lead us to its mate (and entire clan, we might hope). If it was known that there was a sizeable population, then one might be able to be captured on a more permanent basis and studied in captivity.

I hope this dream comes true.

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I just took a look at the video, Jim. It's hard to say what it is. Obviously it's something living though, since it's creating a wake.

I've been hearing all of this about champ(s) being a plesiosaur(s), but i remember in Dinos : Dead or alive
as being a nothosaur, what do you think they are?

Personally, I think it's something we've never seen before. Both nothosaurs and plesiosaurs are supposedly reptiles, but scientists recorded sonar from an unidentified animal in Lake Champlain. No reptile is able to emit sonar, and nothing else living in that lake has the ability. I believe that it is what we call a "plesiosaur", but in the event that we do capture one (which I don't want to happen and would rather leave it untouched), I think our evolutionary branches of these creatures are going to have to be re-drawn.

I saw one last summer at night by the campfire, almost plucked my wife. It got spooked at last second . Got me thinking about migration, Saw one today just before sundown, it was thirty degrees or so today. Must be warm blooded and no migration necessary. Big Water, farms and lots of forest around here in northern Michigan.

I thought they were nocturnal,...... no just smart.

confuzio says ..... poopooers never look up

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