If not a fake, what's in the lake?

An animal dubbed Champ has been sighted by hundreds of eyewitnesses in a large, near-oligotrophic lake in North America. A widely-publicised photograph taken by Mansi purportedly depicting the animal was published to much fanfare. In the present study, sightings were coded and analysed using interrupted time-series models, Pearson correlation coefficients, and descriptive statistics. The number of sightings per year was statistically significantly higher after publication of the Mansi photograph compared to before, which may be evidence of expectant attention, or publicity leading to more lake-goers and therefore more animal sightings. Sightings were consistent in condition (mostly Summer, from Noon to Evening, > 1 witness, and a calm lake surface) which may be interpreted as consistency of when lake-goers visit Champlain, or as evidence of consistent behavioural characteristics of Champ animals. Sightings were highly inconsistent in reported Champ characteristics with widely varying morphology, and most sightings were missing morphological data entirely. More than a quarter of sightings were likened to logs, land mammals, birds, fish, and boats, which are all found in the lake. There were no associations between distance to sighting, estimated length, and estimated height of objects witnessed, which may suggest that eyewitnesses provide inaccurate estimates of these measurements in lake settings. If not a fake, whats in the lake may be ordinary phenomena mistaken for Champ. Alternatively, Lake Champlain is inhabited by as-yet undiscovered multi-humped, dark-coloured serpents approximately seven meters in length, which locomote in a fast and sinuous fashion, and which enjoy pleasant Summer evenings and crowds. Deciding which explanation best accounts for the data is left as an exercise for the reader.