Yesterday’s ogopogo swam more languidly than it had earlier in the year, but it still could be seen diving, and then surfacing with a fish soon devoured.<\/p>\n
First, a few of the latest pictures, and then further commentary.<\/p>\n
When spotted, the ogopogo was far out on the Lake.
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/ogopogo121207as.jpg\")
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Occasionally it would raise its head and extend its neck in a manner similar to\u00a0Kelowna’s statuary<\/a>. At other times, the ogopogo’s head was underwater, but its sinuous humps were visible. Finally, its fish devouring jaws came fairly close to me. As with last March’s visit, this ogopogo is merely a serendipitous perspective of an otter family—the various humps being different individuals in the family. Indeed to my eye, all of those ground-based photographs of the ogopogo on the credulous site, Ogopogo Monster<\/a>, are nothing but crummy shots of otter families.<\/p>\n Of course, I have seen an otter family a number of times this year (for example, otter frolic<\/a>) without thinking the observation fit the pattern of Okanagan-style ogopogo silliness. It seems that the conditions for reporting an ogopogo are that the members of the otter family should travel in single file, be distant, and move across the field of view. Then, assuming that the observer has little experience with the behaviour of otters, has leanings towards credulity, and is equipped with rather poor photographic equipment, the resulting report of an ogopogo sighting is likely to both enrich local folklore and hearten tourism promoters.<\/p>\n “Ok, granted our names start with the same letter, but that’s it. An ogopogo is an hybrid created in the mind. It is as if one imagined that a herd of elk, or a flock of birds, is actually a single beast—a chimerical animal created by conflating separate individuals. But, I am not\u00a0imaginary, I am real; I am otter.” <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The ogopogo of Kootenay Lake has visited my waters again. I last photographed and described our ogopogo in March, 2012. Since that time, I have explored reports from another valley, and yes, both its behaviour and pictures show the … Continue reading
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/ogopogo121207bs.jpg\")
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\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/ogopogo121207cs.jpg\")
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\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/otterfish121207s2.jpg\")
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\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/otter121207s.jpg\")
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