So how legit is this legend? I did a little digging to see if this whole ‘killer octopus’ thing is even remotely possible, and here’s what I found:
The first thing I looked up was how cold the water can be before this lake is no longer a habitable environment for the species. Gadsar Lake’s surface rests at 3,600 meters, meaning it is frozen over for months at a time during the winter - from December clear through April. While most octopus species can’t survive in sustained temperatures that low, researchers have found two species that live in Antarctica, where water temperature averages at around 1.8 degrees Celcius.
So can an octopus technically live in the cold temperature of Gadsar Lake? Possibly. What isn’t known is whether Gadsar Lake freezes solid to the bottom, or if only the surface forms a thick ice layer. If it’s the former, the shepherds’ theory is out, and if it’s the latter, it’s still questionable, given that the Antarctic octopus species aren’t stuck in water that is entirely frozen over.
It was then that I came across similar stories and rumors of a killer octopus hiding in a lake and dragging down its prey, but this time from the other side of the world.
Way back in 1999, locals visiting the New York side of Lake Ontario claimed to spot a large, purple octopus under the water. Theories cycled, most popularly pointing fingers at a nearby nuclear power plant, saying it was causing mutations in species. Now granted, Lake Ontario is enormous, with a maximum depth of 802 feet and an area of 18,960 square kilometers, so it’s entirely possible that we don’t know each and every species in this vast expanse of water, but the likelihood of the mutation story creating an octopus is almost laughable.
