Bill Steciuk and Len Melnyk truly believed in the existence of OGOPOGO and mounted extensive searches to prove it. Read about the two expeditions which took place during the summer of 2000 and the summer of 2001.

Scientific Search

With today's available technology, finding the elusive creature, so often spotted by human eyes over the centuries, has become more of a reality.

Interphase Technologies of Soquel, California, donated an Advantage Dual Frequency Sonar, a PC/View Dual-Axis Forward Scanning Sonar and a Chartmaster 7C GPS Navigational Chart Plotter.

Len Melnyk of CanPro Productions supplied a Remote Operating Vehicle. The R.O.V. could reach depths of 305 metres and was equipped with a video camera and underwater lighting unit and could send high quality pictures to the support craft.

First expedition August 2000

Bill Steciuk began planning the expedition during the summer of 1999. A 50-foot by 14 foot houseboat was renovated to allow the group to coordinate the use of all the scientific equipment.

Len Melnyk of Can Pro Diving Services joined the group as a partner, bringing expertise and equipment to the group. Len's R.O.V. (Remote Operating Vehicle) could reach depths of 305 metres and was equipped with a video camera and lighting to send high quality pictures for recording on the main vessel.

The expedition began on August 12, 2000 and planned to investigate the areas of most concentrated Ogopogo sightings, such as Rattlesnake Island, Ogopogo's homebase according to native legend. With a sheer drop-off to 160 meters on west side of Rattlesnake Island, there are several large underwater caves on the lake's deep walls, some of which have never been explored.

On the eighteenth day of the search, the sonar indicated that a fast moving, about 15 metre-long object was 48 metres in front of the boat, at a depth of 7-1/2 metres in an area which was 65 metres deep. The sonar sweep time was 35 seconds. In that time, the creature-like object moved 5 degrees to port, then half a minute later, it dropped below the beam.

The expeditionary team went home satisfied and planned a second search the following year.

Second expedition- August 2001

The second expedition began on August 12, 2001 and aside from once again searching Rattlesnake Island, the researchers also concentrated
on an area 3 miles north of Kelowna in about 80 meters of water.

Many of the sightings in the last few years have been located near the junction of where major creeks flow into Lake Okanagan and where the depths are 60 meters or more. Another of the several areas the expedition grid searched was Seclusion Bay where many unexplained water disturbances and a number of Ogopogo sightings were reported over the years.

This second expedition again received possible confirmation of the existence of an "Ogopogo" through the use of their high-tech equipment. Although they did not conclusively find "Ogopogo", they have no intentions of giving up the search and plan to mount another expedition whenever possible in the future.