Search renewed for Iliamna Lake’s ‘monster’ with DNA testing and underwater video

Clouds over Iliamna Lake (Flickr photo by Vlad Karpinskiy)

If there really is a lake monster in Alaska’s largest lake, a group of researchers using cutting edge technology this summer might have the best chance yet of finding it.

People around Iliamna Lake have reported seeing the creature – only in quick glimpses – since the late 1940s. But there’s never been proof of what exactly it is. Now, a team has plans to sift through DNA in the lake and drop a camera down to its deepest spots, a thousand feet down, in an attempt to solve the decades-old mystery.

The group of researchers includes camera specialist Charlotte Levy [lee-vee], who, by day, is assistant director of Natural Resources at the Aleutians East Borough.

Levy told Alaska Public Media’s Casey that people who’ve reported seeing the monster tend to have a similar story.

a portrait of a man outside

Casey Grove is host of Alaska News Nightly, a general assignment reporter and an editor at Alaska Public Media. Reach him atcgrove@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Caseyhere

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