Justin Thomas

Could a 60-foot prehistoric apex predator really be alive today? Science says that Carcharodon Megalodon went extinct over 1.5 million years ago. So what is a Megalodon? Megalodon was a prehistoric species of shark that lived in almost all coastal waters 1.5 million years ago. The largest shark species known to man fed on whales, large sea turtles and possibly other sharks. It’s also been the a great interest to marine science and history. Mainstream science agrees that megalodon went extinct long ago but things aren’t always as they seem.

How are we sure that megalodon is extinct? Only a few short years ago, the youngest megalodon shark tooth was thought to be 2.4 million years old. Today, the youngest megalodon tooth is known to be just 1.5 million years old, meaning megalodon’s lived almost 1 million years longer than we previously believed. Science is always evolving and according to a pair of teeth pulled from the ocean floor in 1875, megalodon could’ve been alive as recently as 11,000-24,000 years ago. Scientists excused this evidence because they thought it was unreliable due to variations in carbon dating. Carbon dating has small variations in results but is the most reliable way we have to date fossils like shark teeth. This would be another huge jump in the expected extinction time of megalodon, what makes us believe there isn’t more to be found.

Maybe there was a place where this monster could stay hidden and thrive without us ever knowing about it. The Mariana Trench is a large break in the tectonic plates of the earth spanning more than 60 miles and leads to the deepest part of any ocean. Reaching an astonishing 35,000 feet in depth it isn’t crazy to think that huge animals still live there. The Mariana Trench is mostly unexplored, only seen a handful of times. With so much unexplored and undocumented space its feasible that giant sea creatures could lurk in its depths. Even living in the higher altitudes of the Trench, megalodon could stay hidden from any cameras we put down there due to the vast size of the trench. The giant shark could be sustained by deep diving whales and giant squid that would inhabit the same areas, leaving no evidence of the carcasses except at the bottom of the ocean floor.

Many modern “sea monster” stories are documented all with a common sighting, gigantic sharks. In a book titled “Let’s Go Fossil Shark Tooth Hunting“, written by author B.C. Cartmell tells a story of a crew of fishermen who experienced what they believe to be a megalodon near the great barrier reef. The entire crew agreed that the encounter was not a whale and describe the shark as “rivaling the size” of their 85 foot ship.  There has also been evidence found on seals in Northern California of survived shark attacks. Some of these attacks have bite marks corresponding to a shark almost double the average size of an adult Great White Shark. Other reports from the Sea of Cortez shows reports of massive Great White Sharks that can dive well beyond their normal limits. The Sea of Cortez is more than able to support an apex predator like the megalodon. With multiple reports from different points in time all by average sea-faring people, megalodon could still be roaming our oceans.

The ocean is a vast and unexplored space and who are we to determine a creature doesn’t exist when we can’t confirm nor deny it. It’s more than likely that the megalodon shark and other prehistoric animals are hidden in the ocean, waiting for us to find them.