The alleged sighting of a mysterious creature has reignited talk of whether Newfoundland's Crescent Lake has its own version of the Loch Ness Monster.

Reports of "Cressie" sightings in the lake near Roberts Arm – about 400 kilometres northwest of St. John's on Notre Dame Bay – go back over half a century.

But there were none last year, which led some residents to think Cressie was dead.

Vivian Short of Roberts Arm was one of those who used to think there was no Cressie – until she rounded a corner while driving with a friend.

"I was just a screamin', 'We saw Cressie, we saw Cressie!' Excited, eh," she said.

She described a snake-like creature with a fish-like head.

"Well, I said to my friend, 'Oh my that's big. That could eat four or five people if they were swimming, like.'"

Ada Rowsell, the town's clerk, said Short's wasn't the only reported sighting of Cressie lately.

"I've had several reports of sightings. People sighting some kind of a huge monster or sea serpent or some kind of a fish."

Some observers wonder whether there really is a Cressie, or if it's a gimmick to boost tourism.