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Megalodon jaws reconstruction Bashford Dean in 1909 with fossil teeth, assembled from various localities.
Carcharodon Megalodon is the largest shark to have ever swum in our seas. It lived during the Oligocene era 28 million years ago and ultimately died off in the Pliocene 1.5 million years ago, where thick continental ice sheets caused the climate to cool immensely and the water level to drop vastly. The prey items were also changing during this time frame. Toothed whales such as Sperm whales and Orcas were beginning to evolve. Baleen whales were also changing their habits. Heading north into more frigid waters during the summer months to follow new food sources, generally keeping to cooler water not favored by the large predator. Having not enough food to support the necessary caloric intake needed by the shark, it soon left the oceans open to today’s Great White.
Size does matter! Scientists have estimated several sizes for the Megalodon. The conservative size of 52 feet is often accepted by most, while the maximum length is estimated at 80 feet. These animals were huge and more then likely fed on whales rather than seals or smaller prey; using the same technique as the California great whites do when hunting seals, diving down to be barely visible, and then shooting up to bite the tail portion of the whale to cripple it, repeating the step to wound it and circled while it bled to death. Maximizing success without harming the shark. Whales back then were not at all like the whales we have today. Research Odobenocetops for an example. It’s a whale trying to be a walrus.
Now on to the two videos in question. The first video is a discovery channel special on a ‘what if’ scenario.
Meaning that it was done by a major production company and is in no way real. In the spirit of The Lost Tapes from Animal Planet it is a situation that all mega shark hunters dream of. Megalodon being real! As many people stated on the comments below the video, Discovery Channel “hoaxed” its viewers… especially those that don’t read the ‘viewer discretion is advised‘ notation before the show. It was Shark Week after all.
The second video is actually very real!
The shark in this case is not a blurry or pixelated mess like most photos or videos of strange creatures. This creature is strange but it is known to science already. And it isn’t as big as Megalodon, sadly. It is a Pacific Sleeper Shark. The Sleeper Shark is known throughout the north Pacific Ocean and is found at depths of 6,600 feet. They can reach lengths of 14 feet to 20 feet and have a small caudal fin for short bursts of energy. Pacific Sleeper Sharks, which are also known scavengers, can glide through the water with little body movement and little hydrodynamic noise making them successful predators. They feed by suction and cutting of their prey. They have large mouths that can inhale prey and their teeth cut up any pieces that are too large to swallow. They show a characteristic rolling motion of the head when feeding as seen in the video.
Adaptation and survival has been happening for sharks for 450 million years. They did swim with dinosaurs. But the species we see today are very different than the species of that time. While Megalodon may have gone the way of the dinosaurs we are still left to speculate what else is out there.
What other animals have adapted to the deepest reaches of the ocean that we are just now exploring? We may find a new species that might just be more terrifying then Megalodon, and we, as humans, have the curiosity to find out!
Poking the hornet’s nest,
Jody Bergquist.
*This is a reader's opinion. Articles written by our readers don't necessarily reflect the views of Cryptozoology News. Want to send yours? Click on the "Opinion" button located at the top of the website.
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