Megalodon – yet another legend that continues to intrigue minds to this day. This gigantic shark terrorized marine inhabitants for a long time. It is believed to be extinct, but some people, and sometimes even serious TV channels, try in every way to convince us otherwise.
No. But it did exist. Why it's impossible now, read below.
Different sources provide conflicting information: from 14 to 20 meters. Most often (probably the truth), its length is indicated as 18 meters.
Scientists and sailors find teeth of enormous sizes. They couldn't belong to any other creature. Based on the size of the teeth, the size of the predator is calculated.
No, and it will be explained why later.
Undoubtedly, yes. But there's not a shred of truth in the film. Starting from the fact that no shark can survive after being frozen and ending with the size of the monster from the movie. It's several times larger than the hero of our article.
No. Blue whale - its size reaches 30 m; fin whale - 27 m; sperm whale - 20 m. The last one is also a predator.
Almost all of the shark's body consists of cartilage. And unlike bones, they decompose very quickly. So it turns out that all scientists can deal with is an abundant number of teeth and almost no bones. A pair of segments of vertebral columns have been found, but these 'spare parts' are in extremely poor condition.
A huge monster - a distant ancestor of the sand shark (presumably). The maximum length of the latter is 3.2 m. Average sizes are more modest: 2.5 m. The megalodon lived in the Miocene and Pliocene epochs (about 23.03 - 2.59 million years ago). The species name is interesting. Megalodon translates as 'big tooth' because all that remains of the predators are just teeth.
Here it's worth making a disclaimer. Only teeth and a few remains of the giant's vertebral column have reached us. It's quite problematic to recreate something reliable from this. The shape of its teeth closely resembles those of the great white shark. So initially, the megalodon was attributed to this species. However, through logical deductions, it was concluded that the sand shark is much more similar to the giant than the great white shark.
At first, the theory about climate change was popular. Like, cold currents stopped flowing into the oceans from the poles. These currents were rich in oxygen. It's worth making a small note here that for the muscle mass that the megalodon possessed, a huge amount of oxygen was required. But not only the giant began to suffocate. Plankton, the main food source for whales, also began to lack air. As a result, there were fewer whales. And since whales were the main food source for the megalodon, besides the lack of air, it began to experience problems with feeding.
Another theory emphasizes the appearance of toothed whales - ancestors of modern orcas. They turned out to be smarter than the giant and could not only compete but also open the hunting season for megalodons. The offspring of giants became the prey of toothed whales. And by gathering in packs, toothed whales could even kill an adult 'master of the oceans.'
Once, the Discovery Channel released a video stating that the megalodon could be alive. And it stirred up the public. Such a reputable channel makes such a loud statement. Let's see how truthful the story is. Moreover, now clips from this video can often be seen on the Internet.
And one more disclaimer: at the beginning of the story, they showed us a text that said these were real events!
At first, they show footage taken using an amateur camera. Three young people are riding on a boat, and suddenly the vessel flips over. Later, the camera was found, and next to it were the bodies of three people. The sound from the camera was processed, and after filtering out all the noises, the phrase 'It's a shark' was heard. The boat was large and heavy enough for modern sharks to overturn it. They speculated about the surviving megalodon.
Why all of this is a lie. First of all, let's stop at the fact that rescuers found the bodies. We don't think the megalodon would have passed up three appetizing bodies. That's the first thing. Secondly, there's a slip-up with casting actors. One of the young people involved is actor Jeremeo Le Cordeur. His filmography even includes the movie 'Shark Week' with a role listed as the Hawaiian boy. In the middle of the film, they also showed us a whale torn in half, with its guts spilled out. In the end, there's a huge silhouette swimming in the depths of the water. Both cases are computer graphics, which can be quite real with powerful computers and good specialists even back then (the video is already quite old).
In the same movie, they provided evidence in the form of German photographs. They show two submarines, and against their backdrop – a fin and the upper edge of the tail of a huge shark. At first glance, everything looks authentic because the photo is processed very professionally. But if you dig around the internet, you can find the same shots, but they will be videos. And there are no fins near the submarines.
Here's another case that is also cited as evidence of the existence of the megalodon in the same documentary film. On the screen, we see a surfer girl with a prosthetic leg instead of one. On camera, she says that during her surf session, she encountered a 10-meter shark, which caused her to lose her leg.
In the story, the girl's name is Jess Okar. If you search for information about her on the internet, it becomes mystical – such a person does not exist. At the same time, she was shown on TV, and her story, if it were real, would have become quite loud.
But this is not a real story. The girl is not Jess but rather Katherine Kampko. And she is a model and actress from Johannesburg.
The third interesting character from the same 'documentary' film is a scientist. Throughout the film, he is used as an invited expert, and consultations with him are regular. But if you search everything on the same IMDB, you will find interesting information. It turns out, he is Darron Meyer. And he too was an actor in the pseudo-documentary video from Discovery.
The internet is full of videos of underwater footage of a huge shark. This video can be found on any resource promoting the existence of the megalodon. And indeed, they show a quite large shark. In the description, they always write that this footage was taken in the Mariana Trench. If you compare the facts and take a closer look, you can find similarities with a video released in 1989. The shooting location is the ocean near Japan. And the main actress was a 7-meter Pacific sleeper shark.
On the internet and television, shocking materials are often encountered. They consistently try to convince us that the megalodon is alive. In reality, these are all fabrications to boost ratings. If scientists manage to document the existence of this giant, the news will shake the world. One of the legends that terrify all of humanity will turn out to be true. And there's no need to believe in "secret" sources on YouTube or sites with restricted access. Keeping such information secret simply doesn't make sense.
References: Links and sources
