“THE GREATEST SHARK OF THEM ALL- Many people consider the Great White Shark to be the most deadly predator of the sea, and despite the unlikelihood of ever being attacked by one, there is much to fear. Great Whites are very fast, streamlined fish with excellent eyesight (Almost as good as ours, but a little farsighted), extremely-sensitive sensory apparatus for detecting prey, and 5 rows of replaceable, serrated teeth, and they can grow to be over 35 feet long (21 feet is considered average). Yet, even this powerful predator pales by comparison to another shark that once roamed the world’s oceans (and might still)- the Megalodon.

The Megalodon (Charcharocles megalodon) was a shark that most scientists estimate could grow at least 50 feet long, with some speculating that they may have gotten over 100 feet! Their jaws were loosely attached by ligaments and muscles to the skull, opening extremely wide in order to swallow enormous objects. Megalodon’s jaws could open 6 feet wide and 7 feet high, easily allowing it to swallow a large Great White whole. In fact, had it had the opportunity and inclination, it could have just managed to swallow a classic Volkswagen!

While Megalodon could pretty much eat whatever it chose to, its main source of food were Whales. Other kinds of marine mammals such as Seals and Odobenocetops (An extinct form of Dolphin that looked and lived more like a Walrus) were also on its menu. While juveniles lived much closer to shore, adults mainly hunted in the open ocean, attacking their prey when they came to surface for air. Capable of short bursts of high speed, they would attack from underneath, aiming to disable their prey by striking a flipper or tail. Once unable to swim well and losing blood, their victims would be easy pickings.

According to the most commonly accepted scientific evidence, Megalodons lived in the Miocene and Pliocene epochs, from 25 million years ago to just 11,000 years ago. The last great migration of humans from Asia into North America occured 11,000 years ago, making Megalodon a monster we may once have encountered. Although seemingly unlikely, the possibility exists that the Megalodon may yet lurk with the depths of the world’s oceans. 11,000 years ago is a mere blip of evolutionary time, and after all, the well-known Coelacanth was believed to have been extinct for 65 million years before being rediscovered in 1938.

The age of 11,000 years for the extinction of the Megalodon is derived from a tooth dredged from the Pacific sea floor in 1873 by the famous Challenger expedition. Other, far fresher, ones could still be down there waiting for the next scientific expedition to find them. The Shark researcher David G. Stead is said to have seen and handled non-fossilized shark teeth that were 5 inches long, much longer than those of any shark known today while traveling in the Pacific. Across the Pacific, Polynesian myth and legend is rife with stories of truly gigantic sharks.

Finally, and perhaps most convincingly, we have some actual sightings. In 1927, Zane Grey (Author of popular Wild West novels) observed a huge, slate-grey colored shark while sailing in the South Pacific. He estimated that it was considerably larger than his 35-40 foot boat. In 1933, Zane Grey’s son, while sailing northwest of Rangiroa, also sighted an immense shark 40-50 feet long, its head alone measuring roughly 10-12 feet across. Unlike the speckled spots of the Whale Shark (a harmless plankton feeder and the largest known fish in the sea today), Grey’s son said the shark was yellowish in color.

The most dramatic account comes out of Australia. In 1918, Lobster fishermen from Port Stephens, Australia refused to go out to sea for several weeks after encountering a huge white shark off Broughton Island. They said that it swallowed dozens of their 3-foot-long Lobster pots whole, and that it was easily the length of their wharf. It is worth noting that their wharf was 115 feet long! Can you imagine encountering a shark that large while swimming or surfing?”

Anyway, to the topic at hand.
There was a 7m great white (just over 21 foot) spotted just off the coast of phillip island, victoria (south eastern australia). 4m is laughable

link: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21087369-661,00.html

All I could think about when I heard this story was “Ya see this shark… it’ll swallow ya whole”

You can’t blame them for eating meat.

Chris.

Sure, 15 foot is not a “monster”, and they “can” grow to 20 foot, but as is typical with large “apex predators” these days, you very rarely see animals at maximum size. All the same, I’m not sure if that holds water for the great white.

Stretch out a tape measure to 15 feet and imagine one fish, pure muscle with a head full of teeth, swimming with graceful ease while you splash about in its ocean… you’d be screaming “monster!” too!
Chris.