Shark Week

[tee1222]

It's shark week again peoples, starting at 8pm.
We're talking Megalodon.

You know you're scared.

 

[orangefan13]

 

[tee1222]

Is that Keita-Jaws?

 

[orangefan13]

Yeah. :sigh:

 

[tee1222]

You created these?
If so...

 

[orangefan13]

The coveted sharktee

 

[tee1222]

The coveted sharktee

You're probably the only one who ever pulls it off, brother.

 

[tee1222]

Is anyone watching this, the story of a shark named submarine, a 30 foot plus great white? Is there a shark at least 7 feet longer than the largest recorded great white? Or that a megalodon actually exists? Sticking to the pool for the next few weeks, brothers and sisters. Maybe a lake. No bull

 

[tee1222]

Ok. Here's what is really scary. I have been interested in sharks since I was a kid, and I've never heard it go this far, not even Discovery to spark interest with dramatization.

Facts:

• The dorsal fin was over 6 feet out of the water, discovered by a spotter and photographed. No great white is that large.

• Attacked a 25+ foot fishing vessel. No one was ever found. Attacked from beneath, so this is not a mistake made by a whale. Really messed up, but they show a video of a few friends fishing, saying "whoa, this is a big fish, etc". Eventually just snapped off the line and the attack occurred minutes after.

• Attacked and killed a 47 foot whale.

This is all confirmed by video retrieved of the attack on the boat and a spotter in a tower that worked for the beaches in Cape Town.

 

[tee1222]

Turning out to be a B shark movie.
Cue Debbie Gibson and Lorenzo Lamas.

 

[tee1222]

 

[tee1222]

Terribly disappointed in Discovery.
Tried to google the boatwreck, the "marine biologist" that headed up this "excursion", and found many people complaining about being duped. Shameful.
Link

 

[orangefan13]

Always found Cryptozoology neat.
Heres a good reading site on the Megaladon tee
http://www.unknownexplorers.com/megalodon.php

 

[tee1222]

Always found Cryptozoology neat.
Heres a good reading site on the Megaladon tee
http://www.unknownexplorers.com/megalodon.php

Thanks man. Very skeptical about it after last night. Discovery channel went way downhill!

 

[MCC]

Is anyone watching this, the story of a shark named submarine, a 30 foot plus great white? Is there a shark at least 7 feet longer than the largest recorded great white? Or that a megalodon actually exists? Sticking to the pool for the next few weeks, brothers and sisters. Maybe a lake. No bull

Carcharocles megalodon is toast - the dynamics of the Miocene ecosystem (C. megalodon first appeared roughly 20 mya) were dramatically different, with significant numbers of mid-size prey mammals (certain whales and early pinnipeds) available in the subtropical seas.

Worth noting is that C. megalodon is actually in a different genus that the great white (Carcharodon carcharius) and the two are not particularly close relatives. Reconstructions that suggest tremendous similarity in form and proportion are likely inaccurate.

Finally, it's unlikely that C. megalodon reached lengths in excess of 15m. Bear in mind that paleontologists don't have much material to work with - many teeth have been found, but very few "diagnostic" remains such as vertebrae, etc. - and as a result early reconstructions overestimated size based on tooth measurements.

 

[tee1222]

Carcharocles megalodon is toast - the dynamics of the Miocene ecosystem (C. megalodon first appeared roughly 20 mya) were dramatically different, with significant numbers of mid-size prey mammals (certain whales and early pinnipeds) available in the subtropical seas.

Worth noting is that C. megalodon is actually in a different genus that the great white (Carcharodon carcharius) and the two are not particularly close relatives. Reconstructions that suggest tremendous similarity in form and proportion are likely inaccurate.

Finally, it's unlikely that C. megalodon reached lengths in excess of 15m. Bear in mind that paleontologists don't have much material to work with - many teeth have been found, but very few "diagnostic" remains such as vertebrae, etc. - and as a result early reconstructions overestimated size based on tooth measurements.

I do agree with most, but the last part is a little tricky. Most likely, we will never know as the cartilage has long since decomposed. But I don't think 45 feet is a stretch, given the huge difference in size between the teeth and anything we could use as a basis of comparison, such as a great white (yes, i know they are not of the same genus). It's really the only thing they have to go on, and just using proportions, I can't believe this animal was any smaller than 40 feet.

 

[MCC]

I do agree with most, but the last part is a little tricky. Most likely, we will never know as the cartilage has long since decomposed. But I don't think 45 feet is a stretch, given the huge difference in size between the teeth and anything we could use as a basis of comparison, such as a great white (yes, i know they are not of the same genus). It's really the only thing they have to go on, and just using proportions, I can't believe this animal was any smaller than 40 feet.

Oh agreed - the cartilagenous skeleton poses all sorts of problems.

A generally accepted formula for calculating size was published in 1996: Length(m) = (.96 x tooth height) - .22 wherein tooth height refers to the slant length of the second (anterior) upper tooth. I believe the longest tooth yet found is in the 7" range which translates to a body length of around 16.85m, or 55 feet. Certainly I'd imagine some outliers in this size.

 

[tee1222]

Oh agreed - the cartilagenous skeleton poses all sorts of problems.

A generally accepted formula for calculating size was published in 1996: Length(m) = (.96 x tooth height) - .22 wherein tooth height refers to the slant length of the second (anterior) upper tooth. I believe the longest tooth yet found is in the 7" range which translates to a body length of around 16.85m, or 55 feet. Certainly I'd imagine some outliers in this size.

Yes, good call. 7 inches is the longest found. Scary, to imagine a 55 footer. Would have snapped a great white in half.

I just went down to the basement to find my shark teeth. No luck. I had/have a great white and a megalodon tooth brought from a shop in Newport, RI years ago. Have to find them, but still...pretty easy to come by nowadays.

 

[jekelish]

When you think about it, SyFy severely dropped the ball when it came to releasing Sharknado. They should have held off until this week to capitalize on all of the hoopla over Shark Week.