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The biggest Great White Shark ever discovered and reliably measured was a 20 foot (6.4 meter)
long, 7,330 lb (3,320 kg) shark found off the waters of Cuba in 1945.
Yet even larger sharks have reportedly been caught: one in South Australia in 1870 measured
at 36 feet (10.97 meters), and another measuring 37 feet (11.28 meters)
- though both have been dismissed by biologists due to the sheer size, claiming it's impossible
Great Whites could grow that big.
Yet what if those sharks caught were real and not just fish stories, and what if they
weren't necessarily Great Whites?
Hello, and welcome to another special episode of The Infographics Show's Greatest Mysteries-
today we're taking a look at the Megalodon shark and asking the question: does it still
live?
Most scientists believe the Megalodon went extinct around 2 million years ago- and that's
good news for anybody who enjoys taking dips in the ocean as these monsters grew to sizes
up to 59 feet in length (18 meters) and sported teeth seven inches (18 cm) long!
As the largest predatory fish to have ever lived, the Megalodon fed on a variety of prey,
but its preferred prey was without a doubt whales.
By examining the remains of fossilized whale skeletons that bear the scars of a Megalodon
attack, scientists have been able to learn a lot about its hunting strategies.
While a Great White prefers to ambush prey with a single bite and then let it bleed out,
the Megalodon would attack the tough bony portions of its prey such as shoulders, flippers,
rib cage and upper spine, crushing bone and rupturing organs.
A single bite to a whale's backbone could paralyze the animal, leaving the Megalodon
to feed at its leisure- and with a bite force between 24,400 and 41,000 pounds (11,068 – 18597
kg) crushing tough whale bones would have been a simple task for the giant shark.
But Megalodons didn't just eat whales- as opportunistic hunters they would prey on seals,
sea lions, dolphins and generally anything smaller than itself (which made nearly the
entire ocean fair game)- paleontologists have even discovered the shattered shells of giant
sea turtles bearing the tell-tale scars of Megalodon attack!
For decades scientists have assumed that Megalodon died out towards the start of the latest ice
age, theorizing that because like modern sharks it was unable to regulate its body temperature,
cooling waters eventually led to extinction.
Yet a 2016 study showed that there seemed to be no correlation between climate change
and Megalodon's decline, instead linking the giant shark's extinction to the rise of smaller,
more agile predators and the decline of large prey such as filter-feeding whales which began
dying off around the same time.
This new discovery has been groundbreaking for believers in Megalodon's continued survival,
as mainstream science has long held that because Megalodon lived exclusively in warm waters
that it could not have survived through the ice age like the Great White did, which frequents
cold waters.
If cooling climate didn't cause the Megalodon to go extinct though, could a small, relic
population have retreated to deeper waters in search of large enough prey to sustain
it?
This is the most commonly held theory on Megalodon's continued survival, with proponents pointing
at recent discoveries in Great White behavior that show the sharks regularly dive to very
deep depths in search of food.
With Giant Squid thought to grow up to 43 feet (13 meters), Megalodon may have found
a suitable prey in the deepest depths.
If forced to hunt large squid, it would explain why Megalodon is unknown to science- the first
live Giant Squid ever filmed was only caught as recently as 2012, and with a tiny fraction
of the oceans explored by mankind there's no telling what else is out there.
Proponents for the Megalodon's survival also point at the recent discoveries of other fish
thought to be extinct for millions of years such as the Megamouth Shark, discovered alive
and well in 1976.
The Coelacanth, a bizarre-looking fish was thought extinct for a whopping 65 million
years, until one was fished up in 1938.
So could a Megalodon still be alive somewhere in the deepest oceans today?
Is there any evidence?
In 1875 the HMS Challenger out on a deep-sea expedition dredged up a pair of Megalodon
teeth which were later dated as being 10,000 to 15,000 years old.
This moves the date up for the last living Megalodon to just before the start of human
civilization, and if one Megalodon survived past the Ice Age, then it's not a stretch
of the imagination to believe that others did too and may continue to thrive in the
deepest depths.
Unfortunately because shark skeletons are made of cartilage which quickly disintegrates
in sea water, only teeth survive a Megalodon's death, so the odds of finding teeth from modern
Megalodons lurking in extremely deep water are astronomically low.
Yet eyewitness accounts describing giant sharks abound throughout human history, and while
most are likely nothing more than tall tales or fish stories, the sheer number of them
begs the suggestion that there may be some truth to them.
In 1918 Australian naturalist David Stead recorded that a group of local fishermen refused
to go back out to sea after encountering a shark of incredible proportions.
Per Stead's notes, the fishermen of Port Stephens reported working at their fishing grounds
in deep water when suddenly an enormous, ghostly white shark rose from the depths and attacked
their crayfish pots, devouring the 3 foot 6 inch (1.06 meters) pots and the crayfish
inside whole.
The giant shark destroyed their tackle and the men returned to port raving about a 100
foot shark, refusing to go back to sea for several days.
While Stead notes that the measurement was obviously impossible, he does go on to say
that he was familiar with the fishermen for many years and that they were “stolid men,
not given to 'fish stories' nor even talking about their catches'.
Mr. Stead also notes that all the fishermen involved were experienced men well used to
sighting whales and even great whites, yet the men were in a state of outright fear and
panic upon returning to shore.
This would not be the only sighting of a possible Megalodon off the coasts of Australia, with
the crew of a fishing vessel in the 1960s reporting their own encounter with a giant
shark.
Initially reluctant to speak about it for fear of being teased, they- along with their
Captain- admitted to seeing a gargantuan white shark swim past their 85 foot (26 meters)
boat, claiming that it rivaled their own ship in size.
All men involved were familiar with whales and steadfastly denied the creature being
a whale, though most telling of all may possibly be the fact that this giant shark’s skin
so closely matched the ghostly white complexion of the 1918 sighting.
Sightings of giant sharks have been reported across the Pacific and as far east as the
Mexican coast.
While fear and the water can certainly play tricks on the mind, before you dismiss any
of these claims of Megalodon's existence it's important to remember that only until recently
did modern science accept the existence of squids large enough to eat men- and only 6
years ago was one finally caught on tape!
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Could Megalodon still lurk in the deepest depths, having learned to hunt large prey
in the abyss?
Have you ever seen anything strange in the ocean?
Let us know in the comments.
Also, be sure to check out our other video called Horrible Things That Will Happen in
2019!
Thanks for watching, and, as always, don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe.
See you next time!