Bill Steciuk has now documented his 25 years of research into the possible existence of Ogopogo with a new book.
A Legend Huntersa国际传媒 Search for Ogopogo the Elusive Creature of Okanagan Lake was just listed on Amazon for $27.39 (paperback). Itsa国际传媒 available as a hard cover, soft cover and e-book.
As he sets up a distribution system in the Okanagan, the first retailer to offer it is the Spirit of the Lake Native Boutique at 1960A Nancee Way in West sa国际传媒. Steciuk is also trying to get it into gift shops on BC Ferries.
The sa国际传媒 resident didn鈥檛 believe in Ogopogo, but that all changed in 1978.
鈥淚t was late in the afternoon on Oct. 17, 1978 and I was approaching Okanagan Lake Bridge from the Westside. Once on the bridge, I glanced to my right (at that time, you could see the lake from the bridge). To my amazement, I could see something moving in the water. I stopped the car, put on my four-way flashers and went to the railing. I could not believe what I was seeing: three dark lumps in a line and what looked like a head bobbing in and out of the water moving towards sa国际传媒,鈥 he recalled.
The humps were jet black and created a substantial disturbance in the water as they were moving at least 15 km/h. The form in the water was about 40 metres away and sharply defined, he said.
鈥淎s I stood there in shock, I realized that the traffic had backed up behind me and other people were at the railing looking at the same disturbance in the water. After about 25 seconds, the form disappeared below the surface. I was left dumbfounded as I鈥檓 sure were the others who had witnessed the event. I know what I saw but that point, I didn鈥檛 know what to believe.鈥
No one else came forward even though the local newspaper reported his sighting. However, exactly a year later, he received a call from Clem Harrison who lived on the Westside confirming he too was on the bridge and had seen the same thing.
鈥淚 had no idea back then that I was going to be doing this kind of writing,鈥 Steciuk admitted.
鈥淚 am not a scientist, but I knew that a serious organized search for this lake creature was long overdue. I promised myself that someday it would happen. My book is a story really, what I found since 1999 on all my expeditions and all my research. I made a story out of it, like a diary, in chronological order.鈥
One of the strangest encounters, ironically, came in May, 2003 when Tripod Film and Video in sa国际传媒 filmed a re-enactment of Steciuk's 1978 sighting with a crew of 10 people and director Denis Abramsen.
The crew set up looking south, the lake was serene with no boat traffic 聽and it was about the same time of day, said Steciuk.
鈥淚 was setting up my camera equipment when one of the production crew shouted out: 鈥榃hatsa国际传媒 that?鈥 To my astonishment, almost in the same area that I had seen the disturbance in 1978, huge waves appeared out of nowhere rolling parallel to the bridge and moving toward sa国际传媒.
鈥淥nce again, a form appeared at the crest of the waves about 100 metres away, suggestive of black humps. The entire sighting lasted under a minute and then the waves gradually subsided as quickly as they appeared.鈥
The 110-page book doesn鈥檛 include all of the sightings reported over the years, 鈥渏ust the sightings that I thought were really important during the timeline of the book, only the ones I thought were viable and notable. The majority of them have pictures.鈥
One unpublished sighting was by a woman walking along Lakeshore Road in sa国际传媒 early one morning. When she looked down at Okanagan Lake, she spotted Ogopogo lying quietly just offshore. She watched it for several minutes before it slowly slithered back into deeper water and disappeared.
When told about that encounter, Steciuk said: 鈥淚 have a similar story of one of the sightings where a fellow actually bumped right into it as it was on top of the water.鈥
Steciuk has become known as an authority on Ogopogo. He has participated in several documentary films and television shows, and founded Legend Hunters (ogopogoquest.com), an archive and online hub for sightings and stories on one of the most fascinating cryptozoological mysteries in the world. A documentary on one of the expeditions still airs on History television.
His conclusion from all his research? 鈥淭here's no question that we have a species of animal that lives in the lake. I mean, theresa国际传媒 no question. Itsa国际传媒 amazing. I tried to come to some conclusions at the end of the book based on what my research has found. I was very, very logical in what Ogopogo could possibly be. I was somewhat critical of some of the sightings and I explained why,鈥 he said.
鈥淚 have never been able to understand why it is such a stretch for the average person to believe that there is an unknown species of animal living in Okanagan Lake. Scientists are discovering upwards of thousands of new species every year. Granted, the majority are found in the oceans but I know some have also been discovered in the freshwater lakes of the world.鈥
And in a time where people are showing their patriotic spirit by displaying the Canadian flag to protest U.S. President Donald Trumpsa国际传媒 references to Canada as the 51st state, Steciuk unknowingly jumped onboard.
鈥淥n the back cover of the book I鈥檝e got a little Canadian flag. I put that on probably last fall when I didn't know that all this was going to happen.
鈥淚 had no idea then. I just thought it would be a good idea to have a Canadian flag on it.鈥