We seem to have favorable weather expected for this years expedition. However we are regretful Liz will not be able to attend .

It seems to have been a quiet year so far , I haven't heard of any Champ sightings  yet this year.

We will continue our research at lake Champlain and will continue documenting anything we  come across that could be misidentifications for Champ as  knowing all the possible misidentifications is also important in sorting out sighting reports.

so far our list of possible misidentifications includes

otters

deer  or moose swimming across the lake

large fish or eels

boat wakes

debris

seiche

rocks sticking up  partly out of water

converging boat wakes  where wakes from two boats hit and look like a long black animal leaving a v shaped wake behind

standing waves

logs or branches floating

black ducks which can sometimes from a distance look like a long black animal if they are flying just above the water

if we come across other possible misidentifications we will add them to our list . We are also trying to get photos of all these things  so they can be compared with Champ photos or videos in the future.

We are looking for solid evidence of champ but knowing the other things people can mistake for champ is equally important. We need to investigate every sighting that comes up and review the information and weigh it against previous sightings and possible misidentifications .

If we fail to do this several things happen you get conflicting descriptions of the appearance of the animals and all witnesses begin to lose credibility because of the conflicts in sighting reports .

You also have people  not being sure what a champ is supposed to look like and thinking anything unusual they see is champ. 

Misidentifications must be sorted from actual sightings, having a list and photos of these other things makes it much easier to determine the real sightings.