Scott Mardis, researcher from Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, has been tracking down the Lake Monster, Champ, since 1994. He has been a great ally to Creature Convention gathering and compiling information about the range of Plesiosaur sightings, their habitat, biology, and genetic history.

Mardis had his own cable access show on Vermont VCAM, Channel 15, named "Haunted Sea", and has recently been featured on the History Channel's Monster Quest. He with his fellow researches on a boat, captained by the owner of Al Martin Volvo, attempted to surprise the creature by using high speeds and a fish camera. Several days and nights came up with no results. Cameras mounted around stratigic locations of sightings were not successful either.

The positions were based on sonar recordings of the purported creature done by Fauna Communications. The non-profit organization used equipment that could pick up sounds from several miles away, and recorded bioacoustic sounds known only to be produced by marine mammals. These waters were once home to many type of marine wildlife, include beluga whales, of which many specimins have been found.

Scott Mardis's attempt to broad-side a creature with sonar is a valiant effort, however, this could take several passes. A UFO, tracking and capturing lake creatures, has been observed to dart back to the distance, to return seconds later to stun and beam up the specimen.

Creatures such as sea monsters like Champ, are for now, all Cryptids. In the field field of Cryptozoology, a cryptid is a creature that has not yet been discovered and cataloged. Many Cryptids have turned out to be real such as giant squids like the one from Jewel Vern's 20,000 leagues under the sea. Mardis, like many other eye witnesses on Lake Champlain, believe they have seen what could have been Champ.

The earliest westerner to explore the region, which the lake was named after, Samuel De Champlain, even reported to see a serpent-like beast swimming in the waters. The Vermont Lake Monsters minor league mascot has the monster as its mascot.

"I've got one friend who looks for champ whose name is Scott and one friend who IS Champ whose name is Scott!" -Mike Brown

There have been over 300 reported sightings in the last 100 years. The first sightings of Champ come from Native Americans, who may have had a knowing relationship with the creature. There are other regions around the northeastern North America. Lake Okaganan, Ogopogo, and Lake Utopia also may have lake monsters that is told in Native American folklore.

There are two types of sightings. Far sightings and near sightings. Far sightings range from a seeing a distinct hump with up to two smaller humps with a strange wake, to heads emerging that look like that of a horse. Near sightings describe the creatures as serpentine emerging to something as big around as a barrel. There is a another kind of sighting. Some have even witnessed these creatures on land, appearing to be classically dinosaur shaped. There have been no captured specimens or carcasses that have washed up. There has, however, been a pigmy brontosaurus specimen brought to UVM by a gardener, which instantly turned up missing. Any surviving dinosaur species or other cryptid could instantly be seized by the government if found. Islands around the area have been scrutinized by government authorities. CTHuntress, brothers of ones who landed on an island to camp writes:

In 1982, the Vermont House of Representatives passed a resolution protecting champ as an endangered species. Since one has never been caught or washed up on shore, it may be that they almost never surface out of the deepest part of the lake at all. It could very well be that there is a thriving underworld of intelligent creatures. These plesiosaurs would have to number in the hundreds.

The North American Plesiosaur, Champ, is carefully scrutinized by Creature Convention. Through references to other animals' behavior, as well as eye witness accounts, its movements are calculated and animated on this website. A look into its own ancestry and distribution through the geological time of the Earth, reveals a highly intelligent creature which had fully developed sonar about 40 million years ago.