Bessie is a name given to a lake monster in Lake Erie.
Etymology
By the locals, it is also called "South Bay Bessie".
Description/Morphology
Bessie is reported to be snake-like and 9-12 meters (30-40 ft) long, with a grayish color.
Sightings
- The first recorded "sighting" of Bessie occurred in 1817 and more sightings have occurred intermittently and in greater frequency in the last three decades.
- The creature was purportedly blamed for an attack in 1992 that killed three people. The survivors of the attack said the creature's head is as large as a car. Unfortunately, this is a perpetuated myth since the source of the story is in fact The Weekly World News. There is a reward for humane capture of a living Bessie, and sightings of the creature still occur.
Art/Fiction
- A tribute of sorts to Bessie is Lemmy (Lake Erie Monster), a wood and plastic sculpture of a serpentine creature placed in the Huron River just north of Ohio Route 2 near Huron from around 1994 until 2004, and then from 2005. The sculpture is now broken, and it is unknown on whether it will be fixed.
- The minor-league hockey team Lake Erie Monsters, AHL affiliate to the NHL's Colorado Avalanche, was named after Bessie.
- Flint Michigan pop punk band South Bay Bessie is named after the creature.