Giant Fish or Fish Story?
Lake Iliamna is a scenic, pristine lake in south-central Alaska, famed for its sport fishing. The eighth largest lake in the United States, it is 77 miles in length, measures 22 miles from shore to shore at the widest point, and has an average depth of 144 feet. It is nearly a thousand feet at the deepest point. In spite of its salmon and trout fisheries, Iliamna owes its fame more to the fish that is rumored to live within its depths than to the fish anglers catch.
The Aleut Indians have a legend of a giant fish that lives within the depths of the lake; Iliamna is its name. The legend claims this fish bites holes in the boats of natives who have strayed from the ways of the tribe.
In the 1940s, with a sweep of its mighty tail, the legend of Lake Iliamna swam out of mythology and surfaced within the focus of the modern world. Bush pilots guiding clients, fighter pilots flying missions during the Cold War, and surveyors conducting business over the lake started reporting large, fish-like creatures in the lake. In 1942, bush pilot and fishing guide "Babe" Alworth states he saw a school of animals over ten feet long, a "dull aluminum" color, swimming in the shallows of the lake. Federal government surveyor Larry Rost claims to have seen a single animal close to 20 feet in length as he flew over the lake at a low altitude in 1945. In 1963, an Alaskan state wildlife biologist claimed to have seen a similar creature. A geologist and two companions claim to have seen four creatures over ten feet long in 1960.
Reports continue into the Modern Era, most sightings occurring in the vicinity of the villages of Iliamna and Pedro Bay. In 1977, veteran bush pilot Tim Laporte and two passengers, one a Michigan fish and game official, reported watching a large creature estimated to be 12-14 feet in length leap out of the water and then dive out of sight. In 1988, several witnesses reported a 10-foot long creature leaping out of the water. In 1989, a witness named Louise Wasillie stated that she watched a creature from her boat and that it was only a 20 foot long fish. Sightings continue and occur often enough that the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has "Lake Iliamna Monster" file, kept open to allow recorded sightings to accumulate and be investigated.
All witnesses report a fish-like animal 10-20 feet in length, from dull silver to brown or black in color. Although many sightings have occurred of creatures near the surface, no mention of surfacing to breathe are made, as would be expected if the creatures were mammalian. Search attempts to find the creature have proved fruitless. The most widespread theory is that the Lake Iliamna monster is a land-locked species of sturgeon, either a new species or a land-locked population of white sturgeon. The size and depth of Lake Iliamna would allow bottom-dwelling sturgeon to remain hidden from investigators and would explain the infrequency of reports. Lake Iliamna is isolated, with no access by land, and a population of less than a thousand permanent inhabitants on its shores.
The sheer number of reports from people of various backgrounds, over decades, suggests that the Lake Iliamna Monster is more than a series of hoaxes inspired by Native American legends. But does a population of large unknown fish live in Alaska's largest freshwater lake? Perhaps one day the mystery will be solved by the capture of one of these shadowy behemoths. Until then, the giant fish of Lake Iliamna lurks in the depths of the human imagination.
Sources include the works of Matthew A. Bille and Loren Coleman.