“Monster Shark” Off Sydney
Posted by: Loren Coleman on February 7th, 2007
Breaking News – Some reports say a 15 ft long shark is patrolling off Sydney. I’ve not heard any shouts of “Megalodon” or “Meg” (which I hear will be a movie in 2008) but something big is being seen….
Here’s a news story from “tomorrow” – yes, it is already February 8th there:
It was like a scene out of Jaws, as swimmers rushed from the ocean after sightings of a “monster” shark.
The drama happened yesterday morning [Wednesday, February 7, 2007] at Sydney’s La Perouse beach, just minutes before another alert just a few kilometres away at Bondi.
The world-famous stretch of sand was closed for 15 minutes – and around 150 people kept out of the water – after a distressed beachgoer told lifesavers he had seen a large shark.
At La Perouse in Botany Bay, the latest in a series of sightings of the “monster” shark – believed to be a great white – cleared the water of locals at the normally unpatrolled beach. Authorities are investigating residents’ reports that a shark has taken a pet dog and a pelican in the area in recent weeks.
Brian Mangan, who runs the Boatshed Caf, said he spotted the shark chasing fish 200m from shore.
“It was quite a large shark, it would have probably been the size of the tinnies on the beach, or even bigger, and they’re about 13 feet [4m]”….
For more see, Source: Thursday February 08, 2007 ‘Monster’ shark puts Sydney beach-lovers on alert by Billy Adams, New Zealand Herald.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Since white sharks can get to around 20 feet, I’m not sure that calling one only 75% that size a ‘monster’ is appropriate.
Large? Sure.
Rather disconcerting to meet while swimming? Definitely.
But, not a ‘monster’.
Now, the Submarine — a gigantic white shark in South Africa in the 70s — now that was a monster.
The media in Australia is calling it a “monster,” and you will see news stories all across America and Europe on Thursday using that label. But, of course, it is not big enough to be Meg or even a relatively big Great White Shark.
Nevertheless, for the people swimming off that beach, I’m sure it looked, well, “monsterous” (misspelled on purpose)! 🙂
The “Submarine” was a hoax perpetrated by some bored journalists who wanted to see how many people would come forward with sightings of the same, non-existent shark after posting an interview with a witness.
Let’s face it, terrifying as they are, sharks are hardly deserving of the demonization they get in the media. Humans remain far more scary.
20 footer? HA! I’ll start shaking when I see something over 30 feet with the ability to hurl itself onto a ship and eat everyone then walking away in a tuxedo…oh wait…watched too many movies…
I’m bored! What do you expect? I’M A CRIPPLE!
Giant sharks…BAH! We’ve not seen sharks of that size since dogs were whales! I’d love to see a movie about a giant shark get mistaken by a whaling trolley for a whale and the movie goes on to show us the horrors of whale hunting instead!
It would be really great if Carcharodon megalodon does exist somewhere. I really doubt that it does though. It seems like someone, somewhere would have caught one, or like with giant squid, one would have washed ashore somewhere.
Of course, they are probably very rare if they do exist, and (someone correct me if I’m wrong) it’s my understanding that sharks, having no air bladder like bony fishes, sink when they die. So maybe they ARE out there in the deep ocean, living far from any exposed land, feeding on – what? Maybe whales or giant squid. Or even sea cows. And maybe none have washed ashore anywhere because they are so uncommon and live in such remote waters.
Hi…I noticed this article on a SCI-FI website in early January. Hope this gets made….
Meg Dead In The Water?
Meg, the film version of the Steve Alten novel about a giant prehistoric shark, is stalled at New Line after nine years in development, Variety reported. New Line has had the rights to the book since last year, and was planning to release a film in 2006 with a budget of $75 million. But when the budget estimate came in at $150 million, the studio put the project on hold in order to come up with ways to scale it back.
The CGI work for Meg would itself cost $40 million to $70 million, the trade paper reported. Aside from aquatic challenges (CGI waves, thousands of species of fish), the giant shark attacks ships and a helicopter. Now, the film is looking to shoot this spring for a summer 2008 release, at the earliest.
Director Jan de Bont, who was attached to the project at New Line, told the trade paper that the film has taken a back seat to other costly films such as Inkheart, Rush Hour 3 and The Golden Compass. “But I have no doubt Meg will swim,” he said.
Alten is counting on the film to generate publicity for the fourth book in his Meg series, Meg 4: Hell’s Aquarium, and doesn’t plan to finish it until the film is greenlit.
I think if people can accept the possibility that a large hairy hominid lives in the Pacific Northwest, the idea of a surviving megalodon living out in the vast ocean should not be too much of a stretch. No evidence, sure, but the ocean is vast and largely unexplored. I think the one place where large animals are able to go undetected is the ocean. I think it is unlikely that they exist today, but not a complete impossibility. Oh, and Kittenz- while it is true that a lot of open water sharks need to swim to push air through their gills, it is not true for all shark species. Some, such as the nurse shark, are able to remain in a stationary position on the bottom.
That being said, megalodon was a pelagic shark which is to say an open water shark (same as the Great White), so that means indeed it would sink if it stopped swimming. Sharks that can stay at the bottom and pump water through their gills are referred to as benthic sharks, which dwell at the bottom. Hope this info is useful.
hey everyone wow this is amazing discovery of a possible monster shark. sounds familiar to a certain movie lol, but this is a great article about a shark. i do agree with everyone above great replies about this shark. thanks bill
Even though I enjoy studying the dinosaur and serpent subject, this news of a big shark is hard for me not to make a comment on. Witnesses say they saw a monster shark, so this animal had to be bigger than 15 feet. It would be great that this animal is a megaladon or perhaps a megamouth. Megamouths were mean and nasty, so much more aggressive than the great white. Ancient sharks always a good subject to talk about.
I normally wouldn’t comment but as to the megamouth shark species, but the remark is wrong. The megamouth species is still alive and kicking today. It was first discovered in 1976, and 38 specimens have been documented as of 2006 (according to Wikipedia).
Also from Wikipedia : “The megamouth shark…is a filter feeder, consuming plankton and jellyfish, and is distinctive for its large head with rubbery lips. It is so unlike any other type of shark that it is classified in its own family Megachasmidae.”
I would hardly describe a plankton feeder as “mean and nasty” or “so much more aggressive than a great white.”
For reference, the Wikipedia article can be accessed here.
Thanks, mystery_man.
It is always good to learn something new.
Yep megamouths are magnificent fish. So are great whites. Here’s hoping its a grey nurse as they are endangered, and protected here in NSW – but I don’t even know if grey nurses grow to that size. Then again, maybe it’s an overestimate?
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.
Yeah, megamouth is a very real shark. Was there some other shark you meant, Crypto_randz? Perhaps an ancient shark nicknamed “megamouth”? As far as the creature being a monster, this is a 20 foot long predator so well suited to its environment and hunting that it has changed very little in millions of years, full of teeth and possessing one of the most powerful bites in the entire animal kingdom. I think it is one of the closest things to a “monster” that exists today. Yet, I do not like when the media sells them as a monster and creates this kind of panic. This kind of media panic gives sharks a bad name. Sharks are not evil things out to kill humans, they are a top predator just trying to survive in this world. These creatures have every right to exist as you or I do and I think there should be measures made to protect this species.
mystery_man – I agree. As the croc show put it at Australia Zoo when I visited earlier this year – hands up if you eat meat… The majority of us do, but top-level predators don’t have the luxury of walking down to the supermarket to buy theirs. They have to catch it, and generally they have to use their teeth or claws to do so.
You can’t blame them for eating meat.
Chris.
Just to correct youcantryreachingme: we ARE the top level predator of the planet. The only super predator.
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”
My dads goldfish is bigger than that.
I heard you can get a ‘monster’ beer from down-under. In fact, I think any time an aussie says anything serious, he’ll throw a ‘monster’ term infront to describe it. Cheers!
This might be interesting for some people to know, but there have been truly huge Great White specimens reported. There have been unconfirmed reports of Great Whites at around 40 feet long, so maybe these are cryptids in their own right. There have even been sightings of some sort of shark at about 60 feet long and although I find this questionable, it does make one wonder.
I worked for the Atlantic City Aquarium (Today was my last day, actually), and was in charge of writing little informational snippets for their signage and computers. Being an avid fan of CZ, I was able to slip in an item about Megalodon, and the possibility of its survival, which I think is small enough to be reproduced here. Sadly, the computer this was on has been removed, so no more young kids can find themselves inspired by tales of such a monster fish at the ACA. For those who question my maximum length for the Great White, one of that size was caught in Australia in the 1930’s, and a 30-footer was caught off of Japan in 1998. I no longer have the primary sources for those, but I imagine they shouldn’t be too hard to find somewhere. Anyway, here it is, and keep in mind it was written for kids-
“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?”
I might also mention that a few years ago, say 2002-2003 or so, there were several reports of a 25-30-foot-long Great White lurking in the canyons off of New Jersey. I heard them mostly as word-of-mouth, although I believe the Press of Atlantic City did publish at least one article on the matter.
Cool post, Mnynames. Thanks for putting that up here. I have also studied up on sharks quite a bit and have always wanted to do something in the field concerning sharks, but unfrtunately that is not where fate has led me. But they are still fascinating creatures to me and I have researched them extensively. Very interesting stuff here on the megladon. Thanks for the post!