Seneca Lake has a few mysteries surrounding it, but none more as intriguging as the legend of the serpent. For centuries, residents around the lake have heard mysterious "lake booms" on occasion perhaps due to natural gas deposits hidden beneath the lake. The native americans have told stories that the lake was "bottomless" and that the creature that lived in its depths was "a force not to be trifled with."

 

The Lake

Seneca Lake is positioned in the heart of the Finger Lakes region of New York.

It measures 38 miles in length and is slightly wider than 2 miles at its widest point.

Seneca is the biggest of the Finger lakes by area and total water volume,

measuring over 4.2 trillion gallons! Seneca lake is so deep (618ft to be exact) that

the US Navy has a facility in the town of Dresden to test submarines and sonar

equipment. The bottom of the lake sits 173 feet below sea level which makes it

one of the deepest lakes in the United States. Seneca lake is also fed by

underwater springs that replenish it at a rate of about 325,000 gallons a minute.

The continuous motion of the water gives it very little chance to freeze even in

the harshest of winters.

 

The lake is connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Erie Canal system.

 

 

The Legend Begins

At approx. 7pm on July 21st, 1900, between the towns of Dresden and Willard,

the sidewheel steamboat the Otetiani spotted what looked like an overturned

boat. Captain Carleton Herendeen ordered all ahead full and readied the lifeboats.

The Otetiani was fast approaching the "object" as Captain Herendeen called it when it disappeared below the lake's surface. Moments later, a creature emerged from the water and showed off its head with two rows of sharp white teeth. The "creature" as Captain Herendeen referred to it, was about 50 yds from the Otetiani. Herendeen then made a decision to try to either capture the creature alive or kill it and tow it to Geneva. After several passes near the creature, the sidewheel of the Otetiani finally struck the creature, giving it a fatal back blow. People on board the Otetiani which included a public works commissioner, a police commissioner, and a geologist among others, were working on tying the carcass and securing it with rope. Eventually the ropes gave way and had to be let go or risk being taken overboard, but not before George Elwood, the geologist on board, made perhaps the most trustworthy account of the creature.

 

He stated that the serpent "was about 25 feet long with a long tail that tapered until about 5 feet of the end then broadened out and looked much like a whale. The creature weighed about 1,000 pounds. Its head perhaps was 4 feet long and triangular in shape. Its mouth was very long and was armed with two rows of triangular white teeth as sharp as a shark's, but in shape more like those of a sperm whale. Its body was covered in horny substance which was as much like a terrapin as anything I know. The horny substance was brown in color and of greenish tinge. The belly of the creature, which I saw as the ropes slipped and the creature was going down, was cream white. The eyes were round, much like a fish and it did not blink."

 

Their story was published and received local as well as national attention.

 

 

Possible Connection?

Even before the 1900 encounter with the unknown serpent like creature on Seneca Lake, there was another such encounter on Lake Ontario  95 years prior! The eyewitnesses had similar descriptions as the Otetiani incident.

 

The Sightings Continue

Multiple stories have been printed in local newspapers about mysterious creature sightings on Seneca Lake since 1900. 1913 was a year where many claimed to witness the serpent and caused a hysteria within the local population. As time progressed, the serpent stories and sightings seemed to quiet. Still, even to this day, people claim to have sighted the serpent while visiting Seneca Lake.

 

Notable Sightings since 1913:

1922 - Geneva

1931 - Lodi

1933 - LodI

1947 - Dresden

1968 - Lodi

1991 - Hector

2001 - Watkins Glen (3 times)

2008 - Himrod

2011 - Watkins Glen

2013 - Glenora

 

 

Lake Sturgeon

Perhaps people have mistaken the serpent for a common creature that lives in Seneca Lake. Lake Sturgeon were once fished so heavily that they were on the brink of extinction. Now a protected species, Lake Sturgeon have steadily made a comeback. One theory to the serpent legend is that they are seeing Lake Sturgeon and because this fish is bizzare in appearance and may not be known to some, lay claim to misinterpetations. Let's look at what we know from both eyewitness accounts of the serpent and Lake Sturgeon.

 

The Serpent:

approx 25 ft long (some claims of 10-20ft to 50 ft)

800-1200 lbs

Horny Substance on back

Brown color with greenish tinge

Cream white under belly

Triangular shaped head

2 rows of sharp teeth

Tale with the end like a whale

 

Lake Sturgeon (pictured below)

Can grow to over 6ft long (in extreme cases can possibly top 10ft)

Weighs up to 200-250 lbs

Horny back plates

Brown in color

White under belly

Triangular shaped head/snout

Lacks teeth

Bottomfeeder