What is Champ?
Champ is an unidentified creature said to live in Lake Champlain, which spans New York and Vermont in the United States and Quebec in Canada. It is called “Champ” after the lake. Described as plesiosaur-like, with a long neck and a large humped body, it is also called “America’s Nessie.”
The Champ photo
Sightings of a large monster have been reported at Lake Champlain since the 19th century. What made Champ famous was a single photo said to have been taken in 1977 by a woman visiting the lake. It shows what looks like a creature with a long neck and head rising from the water, and it caused a sensation when it was published in a newspaper in 1981.
What is Champ really?
Some point out that the object in the photo may be driftwood or a tree root that surfaced. Other sightings are thought to be sturgeon (a large fish), swimming deer or waves. Meanwhile, Champ is loved as a local symbol in towns around the lake, and resolutions have even been passed to protect it. Along with Nessie and Ogopogo, it is one of North America’s best-known lake cryptids.
