Portland, ME -- You've heard of the "Summer of Love" but this summer was the "Summer Of The Lake Monsters."

That's how cryptozoologists are referring to the Summer of 2003 thanks to the large number of lake monster sightings in places like Loch Ness in Scotland, Lake Champlain in Vermont and also China and Sweden.

Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman says there were about three times the usual number of sightings and figures that warmer, drier conditions made the lake monsters more active and easier to see.

None of the creatures were captured, but Coleman says scientists still learned some important details. For instance, he says while most folks call them "sea serpents," lake monsters are actually mammals and "closer to seals than eels."

No one knows if next summer will have a bumper crop of Nessie sightings but Coleman says there was enough information gleaned this year to keep cryptozoologists busy for a long time.

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