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Location: Map
Lake Labyngkyr is located in the remote forests of Yakutia in the Russia's northeast territories. The legend of some strange creature have been circulating for centuries. Locals simply refer to him as Labyngkyr Devil. If it wasn't for testimony of well respected scientists that would probably remain ignored as one of many legends of the local natives.
The lake was formed on the site of the central moraine amphitheater
on the Sordonokhi plateau of the upper reaches of the Indigirka as a
result of the damming of the river by the terminal moraine. The lake is
located at an altitude of 1020 m above sea level, has the shape of a
rectangle elongated from north to south, 14.3 long and about four
kilometers wide. The maximum width reaches 4.14 km. The average depth of
the lake is up to 52.6 m. At the same time, there is an anomalous crack
at the bottom of the lake, which increases the depth to 75-80 m. The
transparency of the water is up to 10 m (in the northern part). The
water temperature even on the hottest summer days does not exceed 9 °C,
the bottom temperature is from 1.3 to 2 °C. The water in the lake,
despite the great frosts in winter (up to -50 degrees), freezes very
slowly, which remains a mystery to scientists. The shores of the
northern part of the lake are boulder-pebbly, the central part is rocky,
and the southern part is gently sloping, composed of large-block
colluvial material. The lake is located in one of the coldest places in
the Northern Hemisphere.
The Labynkyr River of the same name (a
tributary of the Tuora-Yuryakh and Indigirka) flows into the lake and
flows out through an ice non-melting dam. There are three islands on the
lake, one of which, about 30 m in diameter, 5-6 m high, located exactly
in the center of the lake, according to the stories of local residents,
has a strange property to disappear under water from time to time.
However, the water level in the lake is practically unchanged and this
behavior of the island is probably an optical phenomenon like a mirage.
The local Yakuts believe that some huge animal lives
in the lake - the "Labynkyr Devil", as they call it. According to the
descriptions of the Yakuts, this is something of a dark gray color with
a huge mouth. The distance between the eyes of the "devil" is equal to
the width of a raft of ten logs. According to the legend, the “devil” is
very aggressive and dangerous, attacks people and animals, and is able
to go ashore.
Scientists became interested in the Labynkyr
monster after the report of the geologist V.I. Tverdokhlebov, who
observed a large moving object in the lake. A number of expeditions,
however, did not bring any convincing results.
From the records
of the expedition of V. Tverdokhlebov on July 30, 1953:
The object
floated quite close. It was something alive, some kind of animal. It
moved in an arc: first along the lake, then straight towards us. As it
drew closer, a strange numbness that made me feel cold inside took over
me. A dark-gray carcass, the eyes of an animal, slightly towered above
the water, and something like a stick was sticking out of the body ...
We saw only a small part of the animal, but a huge massive body was
guessed under the water ...
After the scientific interest in
Labynkyr and its mysterious inhabitant faded in the 70s, the only
inhabitant of those places was a certain Trotskyist fisherman named
Alyams, who was exiled to Yakutia during the repressions and did not
want to return. It was his incredible stories about the sacrifices he
allegedly made to the devil that rekindled curiosity in the late 80s. In
1993, Alyams fell seriously ill and was taken to the nearest hospital.
In delirium, he said that Labynkyr would not forgive him for separation
and would kill him. The fisherman was returned to the lake, where he
died suddenly.
Cryptozoologists put forward various hypotheses
regarding the nature of the "devil": a giant pike, a relic reptile or an
amphibian.
Locals also reported sightings of the "devil" in the
nearby Gateway Lake, but an expedition to this lake was able to prove
that there were no monsters in it.
In 2005, the TV program "Searchers" organized an
expedition to the lake, during which they conducted a series of studies
and measurements. In particular, with the help of an echo sounder, an
anomalous crack was detected at the bottom of the lake, and with the
help of a deep-sea telesonde, remains of the jaws and vertebrae of
animals were found at the bottom.
In February 2013, a dive was made
to the bottom of the lake, the air temperature on the surface is −46 °C,
the water temperature is +2 °C. The organizer was the Federation of
Underwater Sports of Russia and the Russian Geographical Society, the
expedition was called the Pole of Cold. The main objective of the
project was to study the flora and fauna of Labynkyr, as well as testing
the capabilities of the human body in extreme conditions. The
researchers took water samples from different depths of Labynkyr, as
well as soil samples from the bottom of the lake.
From February 26 to
March 14, 2014, the second stage of the expedition was carried out.
In 2016, an employee of the Russian Geographical Society, an extreme
traveler from Voronezh Andrey Solovyov spent more than 100 days on the
lake, collected evidence from local residents and a helicopter pilot who
saw from the air a reptile about 5-7 m long. Andrey Solovyov also noted
damage to the networks (multi-meter holes), the origin of which is
difficult to explain, if we exclude the impact of a very large animal.