In the Domain of the Lake Monsters: The Search for the Denizens of the Deep

Patrick Colgan is the former executive director of the Canadian Museum
of Nature.

Kirk is a B.C. fan of cryptozoology, the contact zone between zoologists
describing new species and aficionados of unsolved mysteries like UFOs,
bent spoons, and weeping madonnas. His book is divided into three parts.
The first part, “In Search of Ogopogo,” is an exhaustive account of
monster-searching in Lake Okanagan in which we learn about Kirk’s own
extensive adventures and the founding of the B.C. Scientific
Cryptozoology Club. It is a merry and often high-tech chase, but fringe
events, enthusiastic searchers, and sensation-seeking media are not
always compatible with truth.

The second part, “A Global Phenomenon,” presents an
across-the-centuries litany of sightings from around the world. An
appendix summing up the geographical locations reveals only that
sightings occur in large populated lakes (i.e., most lakes); there is no
attempt to sort through this heterogeneity using geological or
ecological factors. The third part of the book is a 16-page comparison
of Ogopogo and Nessie, a remarkable achievement since neither is known
to exist. Kirk’s closing protest—“the fact remains that many
people continue to see very real objects”—nicely reflects the
evidential confusion of cryptozoology.

The lack of an index or a list of further reading leaves unanswered a
number of questions. For example, in which department of which
university was the cryptozoological thesis mentioned on page 92
accepted? Kirk mentions Peter Scott’s suggested Latin binomial for
Nessie but does not relate (does not know?) that it is an anagram for
“Monster hoax by Sir Peter S.” Cryptozoological devotees will not
want to miss this book, but everyone else should continue to insist, as
Kirk himself does at one point, that “the only evidence that is
acceptable for classification purposes is the acquisition of an actual
specimen.”