Megalodons: Could They Still Be Lurking In Our Oceans Today?

As you might know if you read my other thread on a similar topic, I'm a fan of large, presumably extinct sea monsters.
The Megalodon has been a favorite of mine since I was almost 8 years old. It's what got me into science and cryptozoology. I discovered it in a youtube video set to the tune of Kanye West's "Stronger", which I would like to add is, in my opinion an example of Kanye West in his prime years. The mystery behind the Megalodon is that people claim that we have only explored a small percent of the ocean, and therefore cannot rule out that the Megalodon is not still living deep deep in the oceans. This is my favorite topic ever. Please discuss!

originally posted by: TheBlueShiroux
As you might know if you read my other thread on a similar topic, I'm a fan of large, presumably extinct sea monsters.
The Megalodon has been a favorite of mine since I was almost 8 years old. It's what got me into science and cryptozoology. I discovered it in a youtube video set to the tune of Kanye West's "Stronger", which I would like to add is, in my opinion an example of Kanye West in his prime years. The mystery behind the Megalodon is that people claim that we have only explored a small percent of the ocean, and therefore cannot rule out that the Megalodon is not still living deep deep in the oceans. This is my favorite topic ever. Please discuss!

Could be the reason behind all of these unexplained disappearances of small fishing boats.

a reply to: TheBlueShiroux

I think its quite possible that there are still some out there. I also think it is not only possible, but likely, that kraken type squids out there in the depths.

Yes they are called white sharks.. some day they go huge again perhaps.

There's not much in the way of recent sightings to bolster the idea of a possibly 60 ft shark roaming the oceans. Plenty of megalodon teeth have been discovered but I've not heard of one that wasn't dated to less than a million years ago. They also don't appear in the fossil record past the Calabrian from what I've read.

However, lets not forget that the megamouth shark wasn't discovered until 1976 and the largest one seen was about 20 ft long.

they're forever discovering new types, kinds of sea life....

many of which have been thought to be long-since 'extinct'...


wouldn't surprise me in the least to hear/know 'nessie' actually lives.




or similar such species.

I personally don't think they are around anymore but who knows? The Ocean is a vast un-explored place. You need to read Steve Alten's book MEG. It's a great read if you are a fan of sharks.

Well considering that 95% of the worlds oceans are unexplored, I would say there are things out that that even Hollywood could not even imagine!

recently there's been some excitement in the scene
a tagged great white shark dove to a depth but the bodyheat then spiked upwards rapidly
they think it was DEVOURED by something

originally posted by: UNIT76
recently there's been some excitement in the scene
a tagged great white shark dove to a depth but the bodyheat then spiked upwards rapidly
they think it was DEVOURED by something

They reckon that it was either another larger white shark or an orca

Link

if you talk to seasoned navy folk, a lot of them might also agree with you about there being ancient huge beasties lurking down below

a reply to: earthblaze

But then what eats those sharks?
There's always a bigger predator of everything

Were gonna need a bigger boat!

It's extremely unlikely for two reasons:

One, they fed a lot on whales and we don't find evidence of huge things eating whales today.

Second, they lived in warm, shallow seas, not deep frigid ones.

a reply to: TheBlueShiroux
Wow so funny that you created this today. When I saw the title I thought you were going to be talking about the article that If**kinglovescience posted today.

Read that article for more info:
Could Megalodon's still exist today

As mentioned, megalodons went extinct an estimated 1.6 million years ago. But some people are not satisfied with this and are convinced that they might still exist. Unfortunately, some documentaries (that used fake footage) have many people completely convinced that they're still hiding in the ocean. So let’s go through the common arguments and hopefully we can reach a sensible conclusion.

First off, nobody has direct evidence to suggest that they do still exist. No, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence- we know this. It’s very difficult to prove something doesn’t exist, but equally that doesn’t mean that megalodons are still lurking around somewhere.

There have been numerous eyewitness accounts of huge sharks throughout history and also various illustrations of gigantic washed up sharks, even some photographs. One photograph in particular which stirred up a lot of controversy was an image that was presented in a Discovery Channel documentary (which was fictional) showing the dorsal and caudal (tail) fins of a shark next to a submarine, spanning a whopping 64 foot. The image was fabricated. The documentary was in fact a "mockumentary", which was stated in a very small disclaimer at the end. Plus, 64 foot (almost 20 meters) is larger than the estimates of the entire body size of megalodons! This was only dorsal fin to tail! The “scientists” that appeared in this documentary, entitled “Megalodon- The Monster Shark Lives,” were also actors. Sorry.

Sketches of huge sharks that washed up on beaches many years ago were also most likely either exaggerated great whites or basking sharks. Who knows for sure, but you can’t rely on a drawing as evidence, that’s not how science works. Eyewitness accounts are also extremely unreliable, particularly when dealing with rotting or decomposing animals. To the untrained eye, a whale shark or a basking shark could look like some kind of giant great white. It’s an easy mistake to make.

A couple of unexpected discoveries have also fuelled belief that megalodons still exist; coelacanths and the megamouth shark. Coelacanths are an extremely old species of fish that were thought to have been extinct since the end of the cretaceous period, around 65 million years ago. However, much to the excitement of the scientific community, one was caught in 1938 and another in 1952. Since then many have been spotted throughout the world. The coelocanth is a fairly easy species to miss - they typically live at great depths, and spend much of their time in caves. Just because we were wrong about coelacanths, it doesn’t mean that megalodons exist.

The megamouth shark was discovered only in 1976. This shark is a plankton feeder that can reach up to 15 feet (4.5 meters) in length, so it’s pretty big. Yes, this does highlight the fact that even relatively big shark species can escape our radar and spend years lurking in the oceans unnoticed, but once again that doesn’t prove that megalodons exist. The megamouth is a plankton feeder, and swims at great depths during the day, making its detection difficult.

Sharks also regularly shed teeth, but we haven’t discovered any megalodon teeth that indicate they were recently lost.

Another idea that sometimes crops up - could megalodon be hiding in really deep oceans, escaping our detection? Probably not. Fossil evidence from megalodons suggests that they preferred shallower, warmer waters and would have inhabited areas rife with large prey needed to sustain their populations. They also used coastal areas as nursing grounds. Furthermore, it’s thought one of the factors that may have contributed to their extinction was the migration of their prey to colder waters, restricting the prey available to them. They just were not adapted to life deep in the oceans (we’re talking really deep here for something this ginormous to be able to escape detection).

So, we’ve only explored a tiny portion of our oceans. This is true. But the VAST majority of ocean life lives in the first few hundred meters, where the sunlight can reach. Below that, life becomes highly specialized and large animals are rare. Megalodons were HUGE and would need a constant supply of large animals to feed off. Maybe megalodons didn't go extinct but evolved into a smaller, specialized shark capable of living deep in the oceans? Well then that wouldn't be a megalodon anymore.

Even if they were, somehow, hiding in deep oceans like the giant squid - we still have documented evidence of the giant squid! Tentacles and bodies have been washing up for years, and footage of live animals has been shot over the last couple of years. I reiterate- megalodons were HUGE! If they still existed, we would know about it. They would be chowing down on massive sharks and whales all over the world. We would see bite marks on whales, scars from old attacks too large to be from any known shark. It would be a spectacular sight, but unfortunately not one that we are going to see.

Have you ever seen this video?

Was the picture posted below proved to be fake or not? I know it came from that Discovery Channel Megalodon show from Shark Week last year, but I didn't know if ALL aspects of the video were faked or not.

If real, this photo would be interesting for sure.

So much is unknown below the waves... wouldn't surprise me at all.

I lean towards no... but would smile if it turned out to be yes.

a reply to: TheBlueShiroux

big shark? Really big shark.

Take this photo for what it may, or may not, be worth. I suspect fakery...but no real evidence of that.

This photo supposedly shows a montrously huge shark swimming near a couple of UBoats off South Africa during WWII.

If this isn't fake, as in photoshop, what it implies is worth a "wow", or two.

a reply to: seagull

That's the faked one, I'm pretty sure. So discouraging that Discovery would put such blatant fakery on TV.