In 1918, a group of professional lobster fishermen working off Port Stephens, on the New South Wales coast north of Sydney, reported an encounter with an unusually large, pale shark. The men
In 1918, a group of professional lobster fishermen working off Port Stephens, on the New South Wales coast north of Sydney, reported an encounter with an unusually large, pale shark. The men described a white creature they estimated at between 115 and 300 feet long, and their reactions were strong enough that some refused to return to work for days.The account was documented by David George Stead,…
In 1918, a group of experienced lobster fishermen working off the coast of New South Wales, Australia, reported an encounter with an enormous marine animal near Broughton Island. The men, known for
In 1918, a group of experienced lobster fishermen working off the coast of New South Wales, Australia, reported an encounter with an enormous marine animal near Broughton Island. The men, known for their familiarity with the waters of the South Pacific, were pulling heavy wooden lobster traps from deep water when they said a massive creature surfaced beside their boat and swallowed the equipment w…
A marine research expedition compiled all officially documented evidence relating to the megalodon shark. They gathered the complete fossil record, forty years of deep-ocean sonar data, a catalog of
A marine research expedition compiled all officially documented evidence relating to the megalodon shark. They gathered the complete fossil record, forty years of deep-ocean sonar data, a catalog of unusually large bite marks found on whale carcasses, and a database of unexplained biological signals reported by marine sonar operators. They fed this material into the artificial intelligence system…
In early 2014, five commercial fishermen working off the coast of Western Australia reported an encounter with a large unidentified animal. The crew was operating roughly 70 nautical miles from Steep
In early 2014, five commercial fishermen working off the coast of Western Australia reported an encounter with a large unidentified animal. The crew was operating roughly 70 nautical miles from Steep Point, the westernmost tip of mainland Australia, in waters ranging from 300 to over 2,000 meters deep. Conditions were calm and visibility was good.The crew estimated the object at between 90 and 120…
In 1918, a group of professional lobster fishermen working off Port Stephens on the coast of New South Wales, Australia, reported an encounter with an unusually large white shark. According to their
In 1918, a group of professional lobster fishermen working off Port Stephens on the coast of New South Wales, Australia, reported an encounter with an unusually large white shark. According to their accounts, the animal was estimated at between 115 and 300 feet long, a size range that has made the story a subject of debate for over a century.The fishermen were experienced professionals supplying s…
Palaeontologists working along the shores of Chesapeake Bay have been searching for evidence of the largest shark ever to inhabit the oceans, a species known as the megalodon. Their work focuses on
Palaeontologists working along the shores of Chesapeake Bay have been searching for evidence of the largest shark ever to inhabit the oceans, a species known as the megalodon. Their work focuses on fossil remains that may help explain the biology and eventual extinction of this prehistoric predator.One of the most famous accounts associated with the megalodon dates back to 1918, near Broughton Isl…
In March 2025, a team of 29 researchers from nine countries published a study that revised the accepted reconstruction of the megalodon, one of the largest predatory sharks ever known. Their work
In March 2025, a team of 29 researchers from nine countries published a study that revised the accepted reconstruction of the megalodon, one of the largest predatory sharks ever known. Their work suggests that the animal was not a larger version of the great white shark, the form long used in museums, films, and textbooks, but a longer, more slender creature whose closest living anatomical match i…
In 2003, researchers tagged a female great white shark off the coast of Western Australia as part of a routine marine research program. The shark, about nine feet long and healthy, was fitted with a
In 2003, researchers tagged a female great white shark off the coast of Western Australia as part of a routine marine research program. The shark, about nine feet long and healthy, was fitted with a data recorder rather than a real-time tracking beacon. Four months later, the device washed ashore roughly 2.5 miles from where it had been deployed. The shark was never found, and the data it containe…
In 1875, the crew of the British research vessel HMS Challenger dredged the seafloor near Tahiti in the South Pacific. Among the sediment and fossil material brought up from a depth of about 4,360
In 1875, the crew of the British research vessel HMS Challenger dredged the seafloor near Tahiti in the South Pacific. Among the sediment and fossil material brought up from a depth of about 4,360 meters were two teeth from Otodus megalodon, the extinct giant shark. Each tooth measured roughly four inches long, a size consistent with megalodon specimens already recovered on land across multiple co…
In 1918, a group of professional crayfish fishermen working out of Port Stevens on the coast of New South Wales, Australia, stopped visiting their regular fishing grounds near Broughton Island for
In 1918, a group of professional crayfish fishermen working out of Port Stevens on the coast of New South Wales, Australia, stopped visiting their regular fishing grounds near Broughton Island for several days. This was an unusual decision, as these men worked those waters for a living, and refusing paid work carried a real financial cost.David George Stead, a naturalist and the manager of the sta…