Freshwater Sea Turtle

The freshwater sea turtle was one of the cryptids that was reported to the cryptozoologist John Warms in the early 2010's. The reports were of completely aquatic, four to five-foot long turtle species with flippers, that inhabited freshwater lakes and rivers in northern Manitoba.

For instance, in the early 2010s, a large “sea turtle” the size of a dining room table was spotted in a lake near Little Grand Rapids near the Ontarian border, hundreds of kilometres from the ocean. Another witness, who is a Cree Chief, told John Warms that his father-in-law knew about a lake south of his community that had sea turtles inhabiting it. In the Berens river, a four-foot sea turtle was reported, and another report was in the Churchill River and various lakes north of Nelson House. Another sighting was by many passengers in a ferry in Split Lake, who all saw a turtle with flippers snapping and biting at sea gulls who were harassing it. Other reports have been in the Assiniboine River, Birdtail First Nation and the Sioux Valley.

What’s most baffling about this cryptid, is that the closest ocean is hundreds of kilometres in the Hudson Bay, but even the Hudson Bay doesn’t have sea turtles, so its unusual how sea turtles could end up so far inland in Manitoba of all places. It's worth noting that John Warms was unable to find elders who were familiar with the animal, suggesting they're not native to the area.

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