Two scientists have agreed to analyze the remains of a mysterious-looking specimen found along the shore of Okanagan Lake.
A tissue sample of the creature will be sent to a researcher in Ontario for DNA testing, and the carcass itself will be examined by a scientist in Alberta.
The remains were found last week by Kelowna resident Dan Poppoff as he paddled his kayak near the far end of Lakeshore Road. For now, he’s still got the carcass, which measures more than a metre-long in his freezer at home.
Poppoff is reluctant to suggest the strange-looking carcass might be those of an Ogopogo, the fabled inhabitant of Okanagan Lake. But he is interested in finding out just what it is. He contacted Arlene Gaal, a Kelowna woman who was written extensively on Ogopogo sightings over the years.
Gaal is making arrangements to send the tissue sample and carcass to the two researchers, who she declines to identify.
"If I name them, people will be calling them left and right, and they won’t be able to get on with the business of determining just what this creature is," Gaal said Thursday.
"But I can assure you that both of them are very reputable people, experts in their fields. Both of them are attached to universities," Gaal said.
Gaal isn’t sure when the results of the investigation will be available, but she hopes it will be fairly soon. Top of Page
