Katy Elizabeth

The hydrophone capture from September 20, 2024 is the third time strange and unidentified echolocation sounds have been detected at Lake Champlain. Past recordings were captured by bioacoustician Elizabeth von Muggenthaler in 2002 and Katy Elizabeth in 2014 and 2018. Additionally, over the past twelve years, Elizabeth has captured video and sonar readings that Japanese scientists and scientists for programs on the History Channel, Discovery Channel, and the Science Channel found that they were "unlike any species known to be in a freshwater lake." 

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Katy Elizabeth shared the recordings with Cindy Joli, a marine biologist from Perth, Australia, and a graduate of Marine Biology from Murdoch University. She was amazed at the complex nature of these sounds. Her analysis is as follows.

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 "Many animals can create underwater sounds for various purposes such as communication, hunting, and navigation. This consists of fishes, amphibians, reptiles, and aquatic mammals. The sounds recorded in Lake Champlain resemble intricate clicks employed for echolocation, like the ones produced by present-day toothed whales. 

If the sounds belong to a marine mammal, there will be ongoing sightings as these animals need to surface frequently for air. The absence of living cetaceans in the lake makes it unlikely that the sounds are coming from these animals. The lake holds several species of reptiles and amphibians, with some species can remain submerged for longer durations than any marine mammal and carry out hibernation during winter. Certain amphibians and reptiles, such as newts and turtles, can create clicks underwater, although they are more complex than the sound captured. 

The audio shows the possibility of an unknown species, unlike anything known from a freshwater lake. The theory that there may be a highly evolved "ectothermic animal" that can produce complex clicks residing in the lake is possible, although additional data and research are required to confirm." 

With this scientific breakthrough, Katy Elizabeth will continue bioacoustics studies on Lake Champlain in hopes of proving this species to science and enforcing further protection as well as the environmental aspects of keeping millions of gallons of sewage flowing into Lake Champlain, which has occurred many times over recent years. In 2018, Elizabeth wrote a New York state law for the protection of these animals. The law was passed unanimously by the NY state legislature.