Payette Lake “Sea Serpent”
Posted by: Loren Coleman on December 13th, 2009
Albert Lea Evening Tribune
Albert Lea, Minnesota
July 3, 1944
“Sea Serpent” of McCall, Idaho, Back
McCall, Idaho, July 3 – (AP) – It’s yellow, about 35 feet long, and has humps on its back; it looks like a whale; it’s “like nothing I have ever seen before.”
These were descriptions today of Payette lake’s “sea serpent,” the strange creature that has been reported seen periodically for ten years and which reappeared yesterday [July 2, 1944].
One of the previous scoffers, Walter Bowling, is now among those who have seen – and are convinced.
Owner of a resort on the lakeshore, Bowling said he noticed a commotion in the lake yesterday and thought several large fish were swimming in column. Then when the “fish” were within 75 feet of the shore he said he made out a light yellowish creature about 35 feet long, with large humps on its
shell-like back.Payette lake is a popular summer vacation spot with many resorts and privately-owned cabins along its shores. Mountain-rimmed, it is more than 300 feet deep.
Thanks to Jerome Clark for this archival story.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Thanks for the report, Loren. Always get a kick out of these.
Whatever this might be, it obviously doesn’t mind cold water, because Payette Lake is very chilly. I live about an hour-and-a-half from McCall and have vacationed there too many times to count. The locals call the creature “Sharlie” and at one time there was a cafe by that name on the main street through McCall. The description in the story above is reminiscent of a monstrous sturgeon….