In October of 1978, Kelowna resident Bill Steciuk was crossing the bridge from the west side of Lake Okanagan towards Kelowna. He caught a movement in the lake and immediately stopped his car. All the traffic behind him also stopped and he was soon joined at the rail by about 20 other onlookers. All 20 or so people saw what appeared to be a head with three black humps behind it, perhaps 60 metres away, protruding out of the water. Bill and the onlookers watched the creature "swimming" for nearly a minute, after which time it disappeared beneath the water's surface, leaving a substantial wake. This sighting made a believer out of Bill and he vowed to try to one day search for Ogopogo.
Interest in "Ogopogo" has always been quite high in the Okanagan Valley, as well as in many countries around the world. Sightings in the area go back several hundred years and the Lake Monster N'ha-a-itk was an integral part of native folklore. There have been several documentaries filmed over the years and many of the filmmakers have invited Bill Steciuk to join them on their expeditions when they came to Kelowna to investigate the existence of such a creature.
Bill Steciuk has become known as an authority on activity surrounding many sightings and he has received requests for international interviews from documentary producers and TV Shows from Russia, Japan, and the United Kingdom, to name a few. Locally, he has been approached by several local media, including Global News and Shaw Cable.
After his first sighting in 1978, Bill had always hoped to be able to mount some exploratory expeiditions in order to try to scientifically prove the existince of the Lake Okanagan resident.
At the beginning of the new millenium, a little over 20 years after he first spotted "Ogopogo", and with the help of family and friends, he finally saw his dream come to fruition. Click here for more details of that first expedition in August 2000.
After mounting a first search in 2000, Bill has been involved in several more fascinating expeditions in search of the elusive lake creature.
Although a great many people have indeed seen what could be N’ha-a-itk/"Ogopogo", many fear ridicule and don't want to tell their stories to anyone. In 2004, Bill decided to have a local web developer help him bring his dream to life, to have a place where people could describe their sightings anonymously, thus sharing their adventure without fear of being made fun of.
Over the past 20 years, this www.ogopogoquest.com website has become a focal point for people to tell their stories, and there have been a lot of reports sent into Bill over the years. We encourage everyone to send us their accounts of what they saw, when they saw it, and if they were lucky enough to take a photo.