Comments on: It Lurks in the Depths of Pitt Lake

By: fmurphy1970

fmurphy1970 — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 23:32:20 +0000

Realise I’m coming late to this post, but thought folks might be interested to know that before the first photos of the Loch Ness Monster were published in 1933, many locals in the 19th century referred to it as the Loch Ness salamander. Interestingly a sighting by a diver who was out on the Loch near Fort Augustus saw a huge creature sitting on a ledge under water and described it as a gigantic frog. Also the Loch Ness monster has been sighted on a number of occasions on land. My theory is that it could be a giant salamander, which could survive quite easily in a cold glacial lake.

By: dogu4

dogu4 — Thu, 03 May 2007 20:30:52 +0000

What an interesting possibility. Since those other lakes are post glacial features too I can’t escape the idea of a species adapted to the kinds of conditions that you’d find in a valley glacial outwash; it’d make sense for it to be adapted to the cold and dark and those conditions ususally favor low metabolisms, long estevation, long lifespans, etc…. The base of a glacier as it sits on its moraine is a complex network of channels depositing nutritient rich silt as they sit there in a state of dynamic equilibrium with its local climate. hard to imagine a more inaccessible habitat to study. It would also seem that at one time the Frazier valley itself was a fjord and connected to the big ocean system.

By: irwinsam

irwinsam — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 08:07:38 +0000

Wow, I have never heard of a black salamander. But it sure does sound very interesting. Hopefully with this report they will start discussing more about these creatures.

By: youcantryreachingme

youcantryreachingme — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 03:51:07 +0000

Mnynames (5) suggests remnant populations from along the west coast – but as scarfe asks (1) – are there no bones whatsoever which have been discovered?

How about the bones of younger specimens? There should more likely be more of these, and they’d be better candidates as bird food (and subsequently bone dispersion) than 5 foot monsters.

Chris.

By: Mnynames

Mnynames — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 15:27:21 +0000

I’ve heard of the possibility of an American Megalobatrachus before, but not in B.C. Rather, the sightings I’ve heard of have always been from California. If both are reliable, we may be seeing the remnants of a Megalobatrachus population that once stretched quite a ways down the Pacific coast.

By: CryptoInformant

CryptoInformant — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 00:21:01 +0000

What, exactly, does Megalobachtrus eat?

By: Loren Coleman

Loren Coleman — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 14:00:57 +0000

The Hellbender of the southern USA is a close relative of the Asian Megalobatrachus, and, if discovered, the American Megalobatrachus.

Hellbenders in the Ozarks, for example, show us these types of mountain stream- and lake-dwelling near-Megalobatrachus did migrate to North America.

Cool post, John, and I hope it stimulates more reports on the Giant Salamanders of British Columbia, the NWT, and the Yukon.

By: dauerad

dauerad — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 13:40:01 +0000

In the late 70s, possible early 80s, I saw or possibly we caught while fishing (I don’t recall the details exactly) a black creature in the pond behind my grandparents home in Zephyrhills, FL. I believe it was almost a foot in length and my grandfather said it was a salamander. Except for size, it does sound like what’s described above. He cut the line or we moved away from where we saw it because it was dangerous according to him.

By: Scarfe

Scarfe — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 12:47:04 +0000

I’m from BC, and I’d never heard of this before. I assume there has never been any documentation of these creatures? No photos, tracks, weird bones, etc?