Where’s the Lake Erie alligator? What officials are doing to locate it
As the search for the alleged Lake Erie alligator stretched into a fifth day on Friday, local officials said the reptile remains elusive.
The alligator, reported to be 4 to 6 feet long, hasn’t been seen since it was reportedly spotted by citizens in the waters off the foot of East Avenue on Sunday.
So as the weekend approaches, city of Erie officials, the Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority and others have yet to secure additional answers or hard evidence about a reported incident that has become a viral phenomenon.
The search continues
Jayson Olsen, 38, from Sirens Nests of Exotic Rescues searches Lake Erie on Aug. 7 for the alleged alligator spotted on Aug. 4, 2024. Officials have hired another wildlife removal company, Best Wildlife Services, to help locate the alligator.
“We have seen no tracks, no trace of it, nothing,” said Julie Slomski, the Port Authority’s executive director. “If it’s out there, we hope it’s safe and we find it. But we haven’t had any confirmed sightings of it. We haven’t seen it on any (surveillance) camera footage. We don’t have any facts yet to confirm this. But we’re taking it seriously.”
Some officials searching for the alligator have said it could be a pet who was released into the lake. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has contacted animal trapper Paul Kaiser from Best Wildlife Services, a wildlife removal business, to help search for the alligator.
Further, the Port Authority has posted swim warning signs along the waterfront near the former Erie Coke Plant at 925 East Bay Drive, where the alleged sighting took place.
Alligator hasn’t been seen since Sunday
Slomski said she is surprised that no trace of the alligator has been discovered since Sunday.
“But again, if it’s legitimate there are a lot of areas along the water that alligators can hide,” Slomski said. “It could be scared and hiding.”
Erie resident Stina Roach said that she was at the foot of East Avenue Sunday when she was approached by a man yelling for the kids to get out of the water.
The man then pointed out something about 20 to 30 yards out on the lake; Roach pulled out her phone to zoom in. She saw what seemed to be an alligator in the water.
Roach’s original Facebook post about the alligator, and the accompanying video, has been shared more than 1,700 times.
Erie’s mayor: ‘People like stories like this’
Erie Port Authority has now posted gator sighting warnings around the beach area of the foot of East Avenue.
Erie Mayor Joe Schember has been busy with various city government tasks, including mid-year financial reports and final preparations for the Celebrate Erie festival later this month.
Schember, though, said he has paid some attention to the alligator search.
“People like stories like this. They’re curious,” Schember said. “I honestly don’t understand a lot about what might have happened, but I hope the alligator is found and transferred to a safe place where someone can take care of it.”
Alligator search, Day 5: What we know
A Pennsylvania Waterways Conservation officer is part of the search for the alleged gator.
The alligator’s location is unknown, but it was possibly seen near the East Avenue boat launch and former Erie Coke Plant area.
Initial sighting was Sunday, but other witnesses claim to have seen signs of it on Tuesday.
Erie Zoo Director of Development Scott Mitchell has said that gators can swim up to 20 miles per hour, so it could be anywhere along Lake Erie shoreline.
Multiple residents have claimed to have seen the gator in rocks, but there is no hard evidence to support the claims.
Contact Kevin Flowers at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @ETNflowers.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Lake Erie alligator: No new sightings, officials still searching
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