Megalodons, The Worlds Fiercest Hunters

[Gtafanboy]

I was reading the MEG series a few weeks ago, and I have to say he makes good arguments on how they could still be alive. First off, the Marianas(forgot spelling, sorry) Trench. They have underground Vents that extend miles along the bottom of the trench. Theoretically, the Meg could use them as a source of heat so they wouldn't freeze. Food sources? Of there is probably millions of fish/other life forms that could be living down there that they could live off of. And hell, there might be things BIGGER(besides the Blue Whale of course) then a meg in the Ocean, but thats not what I'm talking about. So, do you think that Megalodons are still alive today?

[Samurai Waki]

got any links/books to support your theory?

[Gtafanboy]

got any links/books to support your theory?

actually, yes, I was afraid to show you them because in other forums I was laughed off the thread. I'll have to relook for them but i'll be up momentarily. For good reasons why they could be alive you should read the meg series. http://stevealten.com/index.html

The meg series is a great source of info on these monsters.

[Gtafanboy]

http://www.strangemag.com/megalodon.html

This supports most of my arguments. Some it does not cover but most.

[Samurai Waki]

interesting theory. It would be cool seeing an 80 foot shark...just not swimming...or for that matter, being in a boat if you were to see one.

[Alexanderofmacedon]

I hope no one will make fun of you here.

If there are any, I'd hate to swim near them!

[Papewaio]

They didn't believe in giant squid until recently... mind you I much prefer the gentle whale shark.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Well if it's any consolation we may not be of too much interest to a shark that large....Unless it's really hungry.

They could exist, but I don't think we're very likely to know for quite a while.

[master of the puppets]

in theory it could have survived but not undetected, as with all other large mythical(?) creatures(bigfoot/yeti, lochness, that congo dinosaur) there would need to be a large enough population to sustain and they would leave some trace. also a creature that huge would need a large and excecivly populated roaming area to find food, and naturally a creature such as this would need either a rather large prey animal (dolphins?), and even then would need to hunt regularly, while if the shark was not in an area without a big large animal population (sea trenches, colder climates, excessivly deep waters) it would surely die. while in a largely populated area with small animals (fish) then it would need to feed (litaerally) constantly much like bayleen whales or the whale shark does. i'm sorry but an animal like that could not survive undetected.

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

In the 1920's or 30's there was a story of huge shark of GW looks reported by fishermen off the coast of Oz, can't remeber exactly but will find out, reported to be over 60 feet long thrashing around when preying in the bay. That is one huge shark give or take a few feet anyway. I'm not too sure of huge beasts of 80 feet down in the ocean depths but you never know.

I have some info now:

In the year 1918 I recorded the sensation that had been caused among the "outside" crayfish men at Port Stephens, when, for several days, they refused to go to sea to their regular fishing grounds in the vicinity of Broughton Island. The men had been at work on the fishing grounds--which lie in deep water--when an immense shark of almost unbelievable proportions put in an appearance, lifting pot after pot containing many crayfishes, and taking, as the men said, "pots, mooring lines and all." These crayfish pots, it should be mentioned, were about 3 feet 6 inches in diameter and frequently contained from two to three dozen good-sized crayfish each weighing several pounds. The men were all unanimous that this shark was something the like of which they had never dreamed of. In company with the local Fisheries Inspector I questioned many of the men very closely and they all agreed as to the gigantic stature of the beast. But the lengths they gave were, on the whole, absurd. I mention them, however, as an indication of the state of mind which this unusual giant had thrown them into. And bear in mind that these were men who were used to the sea and all sorts of weather, and all sorts of sharks as well. One of the crew said the shark was "three hundred feet long at least"! Others said it was as long as the wharf on which we stood--about 115 feet! They affirmed that the water "boiled" over a large space when the fish swam past. They were all familiar with whales, which they had often seen passing at sea, but this was a vast shark. They had seen its terrible head which was "at least as long as the roof on the wharf shed at Nelson's Bay." Impossible, of course! But these were prosaic and rather stolid men, not given to 'fish stories' nor even to talking about their catches. Further, they knew that the person they were talking to (myself) had heard all the fish stories years before! One of the things that impressed me was that they all agreed as to the ghostly whitish color of the vast fish."

The shock when scientists dredging the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, earlier this century, discovered two 10 cm. (4 in.) long megalodon teeth that were what can only be described as geologically "fresh." One was estimated to be 24,000 years old--roughly the time of the Lascaux cave paintings. The other was just 11,000 years old and therefore belonged to a gigantic shark that swam in the Pacific Ocean at the same time as man was migrating from Asia into North America

[Mikeus Caesar]

I was reading the MEG series a few weeks ago, and I have to say he makes good arguments on how they could still be alive. First off, the Marianas(forgot spelling, sorry) Trench. They have underground Vents that extend miles along the bottom of the trench. Theoretically, the Meg could use them as a source of heat so they wouldn't freeze. Food sources? Of there is probably millions of fish/other life forms that could be living down there that they could live off of. And hell, there might be things BIGGER(besides the Blue Whale of course) then a meg in the Ocean, but thats not what I'm talking about. So, do you think that Megalodons are still alive today?

They may be alive today, but i highly doubt they'd be in the bottom of the Marianas Trench. Megalodons would die due to the immense pressures.

[Fragony]

If such a creature existed we would see bitemarks on the bigger marine animals, how could such a creature support itselve I wonder. It would be cool though.

[Ja'chyra]

I wish it were true, but I doubt it tbh. I read somewhere that you need of minimum population of over 300 animals to ensure that is sufficient non related animals to breed successfully e.g without in breeding, and for animals this big it is unlikely that we would have seen no evidence of their existence.

That being said new species are discovered all the time, I also saw a programme a few years ago about a 30 foot long eel with a red dorsal fin that was washed ashore, the eel had never been seen before or since and it was thought that it came from the deep ocean, needless to say it died soon after supposedly due to the difference in pressures.

There's also things like the armoured catfish in the Amazon and the monkey cat thing they found in Borneo.

[Don Corleone]

Yeah, I'm with Ja'chyra on this one. I don't think anybody could assert categorically that there's no way megalodons could possibly exist today. I think it is safe to say that it is incredibly unlikely. While those pictures of the blown up white shark chasing a surfer are cute, they do defy the laws of physics (surf waves are caused by forcing large amounts of water over a shoal... how would the shark get over that?)

[TosaInu]

If there are any, I'd hate to swim near them!

If I had to make a choice: a 80 foot monster or a 12 foot one, I'ld take the 80. Have to take great care of the tail of course, but chances are that he doesn't consider me a worthy snack.

[Viking]

They may be alive today, but i highly doubt they'd be in the bottom of the Marianas Trench. Megalodons would die due to the immense pressures.

Evolution. A key for this species survival into modern times.

[The Stranger]

theyre my ancesters...theyre quite nice we always have a chat with a nice cup of whaleblood and a dish of killerwhales

[Viking]

So that`s what spam is made out of..

[Rodion Romanovich]

when were they last observed? plus, aren't the megalodons very closely related to, or just extra big verisions of, the normal great white sharks?

[The Stranger]

So that`s what spam is made out of..

that says the spammer

[BDC]

when were they last observed? plus, aren't the megalodons very closely related to, or just extra big verisions of, the normal great white sharks?

Don't know how closely related they were (they could be more distantly related than we are to rodents easily), but they were fairly similar animals anyway I'd imagine.

I doubt they exist. There isn't the food, even if you consider whales a possibility (where are the bite marks?) then what did their ancestors do for millions of years without?

Besides, after 80 million years they would be a completely different species. Think how close we are to our mammal ancestors of that long ago. They might look the same due to evolutionary pressures, but that doesn't mean their genes are the same. They wouldn't be able to interbreed.

[TosaInu]

..then what did their ancestors do for millions of years without?

One of the articles mentioned fresh teeth (~10,000 years old). That swamps the millions of years argument.

..where are the bitemarks?

Maybe there aren't any bitemarks to examine? How many times do we see a whale? Perhaps the megalodons have a (near) 100% hunting succes rate => doesn't leave a living whale to examine.

Maybe they don't hunt wales, but something (slightly) smaller they can swallow whole?

Maybe they lost their teeth during evolution and are like walesharks?

[Divine Wind]

We havent even begun to explore 1% of the deepest parts of our oceans so why shouldnt there be thousands of large species we havent discovered yet. No-one has ever seen a live giant squid, but we know there down there, from the odd body that has washed ashore.

I do believe that they are extinct, but imagine if they were alive...and the poor sod in a tiny submersible who was first to witness the creature!

[discovery1]

We havent even begun to explore 1% of the deepest parts of our oceans so why shouldnt there be thousands of large species we havent discovered yet. No-one has ever seen a live giant squid, but we know there down there, from the odd body that has washed ashore.

Actually we have

[TosaInu]

"After all, it's not an endangered species, not even all that rare, and it's one of the largest of all invertebrates. So the Japanese film finally breaks through and renders the statement 'nobody has ever seen a living giant squid' inoperative."

[Taffy_is_a_Taff]

There are species of shark that are only known because they have left their teeth in underwater cables/pipelines (I guess they thought they were tasty).

Giant squid have been filmed but I think there is actually a larger type of squid that is only known from a handful of corpses.

[Mikeus Caesar]

Maybe they don't hunt whales, but something (slightly) smaller they can swallow whole?

Tsk, tsk, spelling mistakes.

If you must know, the Meg's were (supposedly) 80ft long, and your average blue whale, which as far as we know is the largest creature on Earth, is 80ft long.

also, i remember watching a documentary where they said that some whale bones (not fossils, they were too new to be fossilised) had been found with marks in them similar to that of a Meg tooth.

[Divine Wind]

Actually we have

I guess those Discovery channel documentaries i watched were slightly older than September 05 Thanks for the link.

One thing i read that i found interesting was sharks body mass per square inch is actually heavier than seawater, so that explains why their bodies never wash onto beaches, and give a reason why weve never seen a dead meg

[TosaInu]

Tsk, tsk, spelling mistakes.

[Mikeus Caesar]

I guess those Discovery channel documentaries i watched were slightly older than September 05 Thanks for the link.

One thing i read that i found interesting was sharks body mass per square inch is actually heavier than seawater, so that explains why their bodies never wash onto beaches, and give a reason why weve never seen a dead meg

Actually, you never know, Meg's may be different to your average shark, after all, they're millions of years old. They may have a different body structure.

Or i might just be spewing out weapons grade Ballonium.

I love these serious chats in the frontroom. They're few and far between, but they really are good.