by Greig Beck
CARCHARODON MEGALODON
Our oceans are vast, and the massive sea reptiles were long gone, the sea serpents of old, now all died out. The Alpha predators were missing, the oceans were still warm, and nature abhors an unfilled niche. It was soon filled.
About twenty million years ago a creature evolved that was more fearsome than anything that ever stalked the land or ever would; something that was reputed to have been between fifty and seventy feet in length (with some oversized at one hundred feet), and perhaps weighing in at eighty to one hundred tons. The Megalodon Carcharodon – the dinosaur shark – was the apex predator of apex predators. Not only was it the biggest prehistoric shark that ever lived; it was the largest predatory marine creature in the history of the planet. It vastly outweighed the ancient sea reptiles like Liopleurodon and even the Kronosaurus.
Its hunting grounds were the warm shallows seas of the Cenozoic Era, and its only rivals were bigger Megalodons than itself. Records indicate it last existed a little over one-point-five million years ago, so when early man walked the land, Megalodon swam just off the coast.
Would they have seen each other? Probably. Man was an observant, intelligent species, and Megalodon would have been just as watchful. After all, it had probably developed the same vision as its smaller cousin, the Great White shark – an ability to raise its head above water and use eyes that saw above and below the surface.
The flooded estuaries would have provided plenty of opportunities for the massive hunter. There it could circle, just offshore, waiting patiently for something to wash in, stumble in or venture out into the depths. Because once in its domain, then all belonged to it.
But the world that bred the Megalodon was changing. In fact from the moment it had evolved, the seas were already cooling. Between thirty-five and two million years ago, the continents were still sliding around the Earth’s surface. This titanic movement had significant effects on both land and sea – while the Indian subcontinent crashed into Asia, throwing up the Himalayas, more tectonic impacts pushed up the Rockies and Andes mountains. These colossal alterations to the geography affected worldwide weather patterns. As well, these land-based events changed the ocean’s topography – newly formed mountains changed rainfall patterns, creating rain shadows, and therefore, the water run off redistribution meant shallow inland seas dried up.
Below the mighty Atlantic Ocean, a colossal tear opened up in the seabed, caused by the continental spread that extruded magma from the deep earth and distorted abyssal currents. In addition, this seafloor spreading caused the Gulf Stream to become sluggish, and so reduced the surfacing of cold, nutrient-rich water near North America’s southeast. Such upwellings were critical to supporting the diverse marine life that provided a food source for Megalodon. It is also important to note that the cetotheriids (primitive baleen whales), undoubtedly one of the dinosaur shark’s food sources, became extinct at the same time as Megalodon.
Then the cooling climate began to lock up water in glaciers. This caused the global sea levels to drop by nearly seven hundred feet. Estuaries that were the breeding habitat for the Megalodon vanished.
But for all these assaults on the giant predator’s environment, it also benefitted from its success. The Megalodon shark was found worldwide – from Europe to Africa, North and South America, throughout Asia, Indonesia, and Australia. And it is well known that broadly distributed species were much better able to weather periods of significant change. Even under such altered conditions, a few populations could have (should have) adapted and survived.
Could it have? Let’s look at the evidence:
The case AGAINST:
Their habitat is now too different to support a mega-predator. For all of their great size they were shallow warm-water hunters, preferring depths of only about fifty to two hundred feet deep. Unlike their cousins the Great Whites, who liked deep and colder water.
Like the Great White they have row upon row of serrated teeth, designed to be discarded when damaged. We find Great White teeth embedded in whale carcasses all the time – why not Megs? The Megalodon’s bite power enabled it to shear through the heaviest bones and heads of its colossal prey. In the process it lost teeth that were quickly replaced. Where are the new ones? None, other than fossils exist. And where are the whale carcasses washing up with a ten-foot bite radius?
Great Whites only survived because they usually avoided Megalodon’s warm, shallow seas, perhaps in part to avoid ending up as their next meal. Instead, they lived in cool, temperate waters closer to the poles – which were warmer than they are now, and more like the sea environments they inhabit today.
So was the Megalodon disappearing good news for us humans? Maybe not – when you remove large sharks, then smaller predators become more abundant and they compete for the same fish stocks we humans live on. Less Megalodons, means more whales, but less fish for us.
The case FOR:
Don’t expect a Megalodon carcass to ever wash up – sharks don’t float, they have no swim bladder to inflate after death, so would sink. And if they had adapted to deeper water, then sightings would be rare (though there are a few pictures circulating on the web, I’d view these with suspicion).
But then again, something that big should eventually makes its presence known, or at least leave clues. Well, of course – numerous sightings, and not just by rum-soaked seaman or overenthusiastic fiction writers. Here are few pieces of evidence for consideration:
• In 1918 a Port Stephens’ fishermen refused to go to sea when an immense shark was taking the lobster pots (each around three feet across). This shark frightened the locals to the point where they refused to put to sea – this must have been something pretty substantial, as no fishing meant no food and no income. Many of the witnesses claimed the shark was over a hundred feet in length, and the monster hung around for weeks.
• In March 1954, the Australian Cutter called the Rachel Cohen supposedly ran aground, and when it was in dry-dock having its hull inspected for damage, it was found there was an enormous bite mark around the propeller that was far too large for any modern shark to make. The tooth marks were about five inches wide, and the largest Great White has teeth only measuring two-point-five inches. The captain of the Rachel Cohen recalled an impact and shuddering on the ship as they were passing Indonesia, which he thought was the boat simply hitting a floating tree trunk.
All undeniable proof? Not quite. For every bit of evidence there is counter evidence. But then again, today we know more about the surface of the moon than we do about the depths of our oceans. Our oceans are vast and deep, and cover seventy-one per cent of the planet's surface and contain ninety-seven per cent of the planet's water. Yet more than ninety-five per cent of the underwater world remains unexplored (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).
The final word:
Our seas are warming once again – it’s a natural cyclic progression, and nothing to do with mankind. The heat is being captured in the deep layers of the oceans. It will lead to krill explosions, fish stock changes, and migrating pattern alterations of the huge cetaceans. With the krill come the massive feeders. With the fish stocks and the massive feeders come the super predators.
Keep your eyes open; I don’t think it will be long now.
DEEP BLUE
Guadalupe Island lies a hundred and fifty miles offshore of the Pacific coast of Mexico, roughly south of San Diego on the Baja California peninsula. The island is surrounded by deep water, some of which attains depths of twelve thousand feet.
It is in these deep, dark waters that video recently emerged of what’s thought to be the world’s largest Great White Shark captured in the wild. The shark has been dubbed Deep Blue, and is estimated to be around twenty-one feet in length, and weighing in at twenty thousand pounds.
Deep Blue is a wide as a hippo and thought to be a fifty-year-old pregnant female. It was noted at the time that the slashes on her left flank indicate that she’s probably been involved in fights w
ith other sharks.
MOVILLE CAVE
Discovered in 1986 in Constanța County, Romania, a few kilometers from the Black Sea coast. The cave system is notable for its unique groundwater ecosystem and life forms that have been sealed off from the outside world for over five million years.
Forty-eight species of leeches, spiders, scorpions and insects were found inside the cave, living in a world of utter darkness. The food chain is based on chemosynthesis rather than photosynthesis, whereby there is methane and sulfur oxidizing bacteria, which releases nutrients for the fungi and other bacteria. This forms microbial mats on the cave walls and the surface of lakes and ponds that is grazed on by some of the animals. The grazers are then preyed on by larger predatory species.
The cave system with its unique and hidden life forms was the basis for the horror/science fiction movie ‘The Cave’, starring Cole Hauser (2005).
HIDDEN OCEANS
Earth's oldest body of water, found beneath Canada, contains more than all of the world's rivers, swamps and lakes put together.
Huge reserves of the oldest water on Earth are locked deep within the planet's crust and could be home to new forms of life, according to scientists. Geologists have revealed they have found water that is up to two-point-seven billion years old in sites all over the world. They now estimate there could be around two and a half million cubic miles of this water buried beneath the ground.
RICHARD GRAY, MAILONLINE. 18 December 2014
AND FINALLY:
This was a real news story included in Channel 9’s newsfeed from 2014 – Australian filmmakers contracted for a marine investigation are baffled as to what had taken a ten-foot Great White Shark they tagged as part of the study. The shark disappeared on the edge of Australia’s continental shelf, with the electronic tag later washing ashore two miles from where the shark was originally tagged.
The data recordings from the tag shocked the researchers, as it seemed the shark took a high-speed deep dive down the side of shelf to a depth of fifteen hundred feet, and then the tag recorded a large temperature change from nine degrees to twenty-four and half degrees where it remained for eight days.
The film making investigators drew only one conclusion — the Great White had been eaten by a "super predator" of the deep – type unknown.
Channel 9 Technology News - 3:40pm June 8, 2014
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Militant Tūhoe separatists are active in the area, and with its cloying mist and steep ravines, the forest is a treacherous place in winter.
Yet nothing has prepared Taine for the true danger that awaits them. Death incarnate.
They backtrack toward civilisation, stalked by a prehistoric creature intent on picking them off one by one. With their weapons ineffective, the babysitting job has become a race for survival.
Desperate to bring his charges out alive, Taine draws on ancient tribal wisdom. Will it be enough to stop the nightmare? And when the mist clears, will anyone be left?
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As the world frays into occultism and terror, Matt Rowley stands at a crossroads. To rescue his comrade, Isuji Sakura. he must betray the oaths he swore to his country, a country that with every passing day becomes more dangerous to those around him. As nephilim reveal themselves as modern-day gods demanding sacrifice and worship, Matt’s unique abilities draw him away from his wife and son, whose own powers have made them targets of zealots and government extremists.
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Table of Contents
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
RETURN OF THE MONSTER
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
EPILOGUE
AUTHORS NOTES:
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