This video was made possible by WIX. If you are ready to create a website, head
over to wix.com/go/infographics to try out one of their premium plans right now. The biggest Great White Shark ever discovered
and reliably measured was a 20 foot (6.4 meter) long, 7,330 lb (3,320 kg) shark found off
the waters of Cuba in 1945. Yet even larger sharks have reportedly been
caught: one in South Australia in 1870 measured at 36 feet (10.97 meters), and another measuring
37 feet (11.28 meters) - though both have been dismissed by biologists
due to the sheer size, claiming it's impossible Great Whites could grow that big. Yet what if those sharks caught were real
and not just fish stories, and what if they weren't necessarily Great Whites? Hello, and welcome to another special episode
of The Infographics Show's Greatest Mysteries- today we're taking a look at the Megalodon
shark and asking the question: does it still live? Most scientists believe the Megalodon went
extinct around 2 million years ago- and that's good news for anybody who enjoys taking dips
in the ocean as these monsters grew to sizes up to 59 feet in length (18 meters) and sported
teeth seven inches (18 cm) long! As the largest predatory fish to have ever
lived, the Megalodon fed on a variety of prey, but its preferred prey was without a doubt
whales. By examining the remains of fossilized whale
skeletons that bear the scars of a Megalodon attack, scientists have been able to learn
a lot about its hunting strategies. While a Great White prefers to ambush prey
with a single bite and then let it bleed out, the Megalodon would attack the tough bony
portions of its prey such as shoulders, flippers, rib cage and upper spine, crushing bone and
rupturing organs. A single bite to a whale's backbone could
paralyze the animal, leaving the Megalodon to feed at its leisure- and with a bite force
between 24,400 and 41,000 pounds (11,068 – 18597 kg) crushing tough whale bones would have
been a simple task for the giant shark. But Megalodons didn't just eat whales- as
opportunistic hunters they would prey on seals, sea lions, dolphins and generally anything
smaller than itself (which made nearly the entire ocean fair game)- paleontologists have
even discovered the shattered shells of giant sea turtles bearing the tell-tale scars of
Megalodon attack! For decades scientists have assumed that Megalodon
died out towards the start of the latest ice age, theorizing that because like modern sharks
it was unable to regulate its body temperature, cooling waters eventually led to extinction. Yet a 2016 study showed that there seemed
to be no correlation between climate change and Megalodon's decline, instead linking the
giant shark's extinction to the rise of smaller, more agile predators and the decline of large
prey such as filter-feeding whales which began dying off around the same time. This new discovery has been groundbreaking
for believers in Megalodon's continued survival, as mainstream science has long held that because
Megalodon lived exclusively in warm waters that it could not have survived through the
ice age like the Great White did, which frequents cold waters. If cooling climate didn't cause the Megalodon
to go extinct though, could a small, relic population have retreated to deeper waters
in search of large enough prey to sustain it? This is the most commonly held theory on Megalodon's
continued survival, with proponents pointing at recent discoveries in Great White behavior
that show the sharks regularly dive to very deep depths in search of food. With Giant Squid thought to grow up to 43
feet (13 meters), Megalodon may have found a suitable prey in the deepest depths. If forced to hunt large squid, it would explain
why Megalodon is unknown to science- the first live Giant Squid ever filmed was only caught
as recently as 2012, and with a tiny fraction of the oceans explored by mankind there's
no telling what else is out there. Proponents for the Megalodon's survival also
point at the recent discoveries of other fish thought to be extinct for millions of years
such as the Megamouth Shark, discovered alive and well in 1976. The Coelacanth, a bizarre-looking fish was
thought extinct for a whopping 65 million years, until one was fished up in 1938. So could a Megalodon still be alive somewhere
in the deepest oceans today? Is there any evidence? In 1875 the HMS Challenger out on a deep-sea
expedition dredged up a pair of Megalodon teeth which were later dated as being 10,000
to 15,000 years old. This moves the date up for the last living
Megalodon to just before the start of human civilization, and if one Megalodon survived
past the Ice Age, then it's not a stretch of the imagination to believe that others
did too and may continue to thrive in the deepest depths. Unfortunately because shark skeletons are
made of cartilage which quickly disintegrates in sea water, only teeth survive a Megalodon's
death, so the odds of finding teeth from modern Megalodons lurking in extremely deep water
are astronomically low. Yet eyewitness accounts describing giant sharks
abound throughout human history, and while most are likely nothing more than tall tales
or fish stories, the sheer number of them begs the suggestion that there may be some
truth to them. In 1918 Australian naturalist David Stead
recorded that a group of local fishermen refused to go back out to sea after encountering a
shark of incredible proportions. Per Stead's notes, the fishermen of Port Stephens
reported working at their fishing grounds in deep water when suddenly an enormous, ghostly
white shark rose from the depths and attacked their crayfish pots, devouring the 3 foot
6 inch (1.06 meters) pots and the crayfish inside whole. The giant shark destroyed their tackle and
the men returned to port raving about a 100 foot shark, refusing to go back to sea for
several days. While Stead notes that the measurement was
obviously impossible, he does go on to say that he was familiar with the fishermen for
many years and that they were “stolid men, not given to 'fish stories' nor even talking
about their catches'. Mr. Stead also notes that all the fishermen
involved were experienced men well used to sighting whales and even great whites, yet
the men were in a state of outright fear and panic upon returning to shore. This would not be the only sighting of a possible
Megalodon off the coasts of Australia, with the crew of a fishing vessel in the 1960s
reporting their own encounter with a giant shark. Initially reluctant to speak about it for
fear of being teased, they- along with their Captain- admitted to seeing a gargantuan white
shark swim past their 85 foot (26 meters) boat, claiming that it rivaled their own ship
in size. All men involved were familiar with whales
and steadfastly denied the creature being a whale, though most telling of all may possibly
be the fact that this giant shark’s skin so closely matched the ghostly white complexion
of the 1918 sighting. Sightings of giant sharks have been reported
across the Pacific and as far east as the Mexican coast. While fear and the water can certainly play
tricks on the mind, before you dismiss any of these claims of Megalodon's existence it's
important to remember that only until recently did modern science accept the existence of
squids large enough to eat men- and only 6 years ago was one finally caught on tape! Whether you believe Megalodon is real or not
is up to you, but when it comes to information about who you should use to build and host
your new website, you have to trust us! Our suggestion is of course WIX! Wix is a powerful and awesome platform for
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that, as well. Don’t worry whether Megalodon is real or
not; worry about that website you don’t have yet! Go to wix.com/go/infographics or click the
link in the description and build the website you want and need today. Could Megalodon still lurk in the deepest
depths, having learned to hunt large prey in the abyss? Have you ever seen anything strange in the
ocean? Let us know in the comments. Also, be sure to check out our other video
called Horrible Things That Will Happen in 2019! Thanks for watching, and, as always, don’t
forget to like, share, and subscribe. See you next time!
Yes.
Short answer; no.