Whale Scale

Whale Scale: Whalesized Sharks, Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises

The order Cetacea whale, includes the marine mammals commonly known as whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Size comparison of all known extant cetacean species. Note the human diver at lower right for scale. (Click on pictures to enlarge)

WhaleScale alternate size

I had commented on this composite image above before, saying that when it came out a few of these species had been "Unknown" or "Unconfirmed" until shortly before it came out.There are a couple of them that would have been called Cryptids. At the same time, the more obvious Cryptiid types remain steadfastly off the chart (including dolphins with two  dorsal fins, sometimes explained as a feakish mutant strain) We evidently have a largefin beaked whale that is teetering on the edge of recognition, one or two species of tusked whales

..... and the one everybody is keen to learn more about, evidently a beaked whale with the body proportions of a zueglodont Archaeocete, represented by the Emu carcass.

In checking through records pertaining to the creature I am calling The Whale Eater, I find that in the Pacific and in Latin America especially, interest is not so much in the large Mosasaur creature, it is more in the giant supposedly-extinct shark Carcharodon megalodon: the two are however sometimes both called by the same name in the literature (a surprising finding that turned up during the research) This is the correct spelling bt the way: large C small m on the megalodon and officially you should be saying "C. megalodon" rather than just "Megalodon", much in the same way as people say "T. rex" and mean Tyrannosaurus rex.

http://oldsouthghosthunters.yuku.com/topic/63

Carcharodon Megalodon

The megalodon shark - Carcharodon megalodon - was a giant shark estimated to grow up to 50 or 70 feet in length. Some people have suggested it could have reached up to 80 feet, which would make it even bigger than most land-based dinosaurs. The megalodon was a carnivore that would hunt other creatures in the ocean. It probably used its huge tail or flippers to stun its prey. Based on fossils, its teeth alone are some 5 to 8 inches or more long and its jaws around 6 to 10 feet wide. That sort of hunter could give even a whale a run for its money and it's been suggested that whale meat was one of its favourites. [Ecologically, a living C. megalodon would seem tro fit somewhere between orcas and sperm whales in dietary choices: the bigger Marine Saurian type would be changing its target  prey items as the individual creature gets bigger, but the best information is that the fully-grown adults eat medium-sized whales and larger sharks preferentially. It seems from the information given here, living C. megalodons also cruise the greater depths for bigger squids to supplement their diet-DD] Officially the megalodon is extinct, however rumours of its continued existence abound. If these turn out to be true then it wouldn't be the first "living fossil" cryptid to be discovered - the most famous example is the coelacanth. There have been numerous sightings of unusual giant sharks, possibly megalodons. There are also many globsters (weird unidentified marine corpses) that add weight to the idea. However there have been no confirmed megalodon sightings. The most famous megalodon sightings were collected by the Australian naturalist David Stead. In the early 20th century he collected reports of a gigantic white shark that had terrorised the fishermen of Port Stephens. Since most of these eye witnesses are anonymous their accounts are often dismissed by sceptics as being anecdotal and of little value. However such reports - whilst not proving the existence of the megalodon - make this mystery an area of interest to many cryptozoologists.

Large fossilized Megalodon teeth are among the most startling of natural objects. They are huge blackish triangles that appear 'puffed up', resembling fresh-baked (fresh-burned?) cookies. The root is bilobed and rough, in stark contrast to the smooth, enamel-like polish of the blade. The blade itself is often cracked longitudinally and the edge has about 50 serrations per inch (20 per centimetre). The heft of a good-sized specimen is remarkable - about three-quarters of a pound (0.4 kilograms). It is hard to think of these massive stones as ever having been teeth. But that's exactly what they were. This undeniable fact has generated much awestruck speculation about what the entire shark must have looked like.
Fossilized teeth are almost all that remains of Megalodon. Therefore, placing some of these teeth in a model of the long-gone cartilaginous jaws is an expedient way to start reconstructing this creature. But how many teeth and how big to make the jaws? Since Megalodon teeth so closely resemble those of the modern white shark in form but are about three times as large, it seemed to early museum curators that a scaled-up model of White Shark jaws would be a reasonable approximation. Despite their huge size, these early reconstructions were not as scary-looking as one might imagine: resembling gigantic, white lips filled with hundreds of blackish fossil teeth. (Fossil shark teeth can be almost any color - black, purple, blue, green, brown, red, pink, orange, yellow, beige, or almost white - depending upon the precise chemistry of the sediment in which they were deposited. Because most commercially-sold megalodon teeth come from Cooper River and other South Carolina deposits rich in dark phosphates, these fossils are almost always dark grey, brown, or black.) But the stand-in jaws did give an impression of the sheer enormity of megalodon. Measuring eleven feet (3.4 metres) tall and nine feet (2.75 metres) across, the reconstructed megalodon jaws suggested a monster shark more than 80 feet (25 metres) in length. Small wonder that, even today, plaster reconstructions of Megalodon jaws are among the most popular paleontological exhibits in museums.

Does The Megalodon Still Live?

Officially the megalodon is extinct, however rumours of its continued existence abound. If these turn out to be true then it wouldn't be the first "living fossil" cryptid to be discovered - the most famous example is the coelacanth.
There have been numerous sightings of unusual giant sharks, possibly megalodons. There are also many globsters (weird unidentified marine corpses) that add weight to the idea. However there have been no confirmed megalodon sightings.
The most famous megalodon sightings were collected by the Australian naturalist David Stead. In the early 20th century he collected reports of a gigantic white shark that had terrorised the fishermen of Port Stephens. Since most of these eye witnesses are anonymous their accounts are often dismissed by sceptics as being anecdotal and of little value. However such reports - whilst not proving the existence of the megalodon - make this mystery an area of interest to many cryptozoologists.
Based on the average rate of deposition of manganese dioxide around nuclei composed of fossil shark teeth, some have calculated that Megalodon may have lived as recently as 11,000 years ago, rather than died out 1.6 million years ago, as suggested by radiometric dating. In geological terms, that's yesterday.

Less than 5% of the deep-sea has been explored, and even less than that sampled biologically. Yet we know that sharks live at least as deep as 12,000 feet (3,660 metres) and Sperm Whales (Physeter macrocephalus) are believed to dive to 10,000 feet (3,050 metres) in search of squid. If there's enough food down there for 60-foot (18-metre) whales, there is probably enough to support Megalodon.

Another different article included a scale with a fossil Plesiosaur, a killer whale (Orca) and the C. megalodon: the Plesiosaur as shown here is a good model for the size and shape of a male Long-Necked SeaSerpent (a "Merhorse")

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?46630-CARCHARODON-MEGALODON-SIGHTINGS

CARCHARODON MEGALODON SIGHTINGS

Coelacanth thought to be extinct 65 million years ago is still around, giant squid, still around, Megamouth Shark discovered..and many others, if not live specimen or washed up carcass, there are sightings...the big deep ocean is so full of mystery.

Some say this monster is estimated to be up to 50 feet in length, some say closer to 80 feet and others up to 100 feet or more. Whatever is the case, The Carcharodon Megalodon is possibly the biggest predator ever to exist next to the Sperm Whale. But the question that some ask today...could this monstrous Megalodon still be around swimming in the deep ocean..waiting to be discovered? There are quite a number of eyewitness said to have sighted what to have believed to be the extinct Carcharodon Megalodon once lived between 5 million and 1.6 million years ago.
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One Of The Sightings:

Great white shark experts Richard Ellis and John McCosker have included a rather compelling chapter on Megalodon in his definitive 1991 volume, Great White Shark. Ellis (who authored the chapter on Megalodon), notes that although all the fossilized Megalodon teeth found so far indicate that the shark is extinct, we should really get concerned about the welfare of our divers if someone ever dredges up a white Megalodon tooth. Because if we did, "we would know that the giant shark became extinct quite recently," writes Ellis, "or is flourishing somewhere in the vastness of the oceans and has simply lost a tooth."

As frightening as a notion like that may seem for anyone who doesn't live in central Nebraska, could it ever happen? Almost all who have investigated the possible existence of the great Megalodon realize that if it is extinct, it has only recently occured in the geological record. The creature lived as long ago as 50 million years (Middle and Late Tertiary Period), but Ellis confirms that scientists have concluded Megalodon probably "just" became extinct, in the late Pleistocene or early Holocene epochs. In other words, as close as 10,000 years ago! Pretty scary stuff, Mr. Cousteau.

Zoological history has proven that very large animals can remain hidden from modern science, especially in our planet's under-explored ocean depths. So if the famous coelacanth can remain undisturbed for 60 million years, why not push our giant white shark up a mere 10,000? Apparently Ellis sees no major problem with that when he writes, "Except that we have not found one, there appears to be no reason why Megalodon should not be flourishing today." Granted, Ellis feels that no concrete evidence has been found for Megalodon's current existence. "But there will always be those who keep hoping that one will appear. Let us hope we are not in the water when it does."
Or has one already appeared? Contained in Ellis's chapter on Megalodon is quite an amazing sighting report from Australia. It is taken from David G. Stead's Sharks and Rays of Australian Seas, published in 1963. Here is the now-classic monster encounter, in Stead's words:

In the year 1918 I recorded the sensation that had been caused among the "outside" crayfish men at Port Stephens, when, for several days, they refused to go to sea to their regular fishing grounds in the vicinity of Broughton Island. The men had been at work on the fishing grounds--which lie in deep water--when an immense shark of almost unbelievable proportions put in an appearance, lifting pot after pot containing many crayfishes, and taking, as the men said, "pots, mooring lines and all." These crayfish pots, it should be mentioned, were about 3 feet 6 inches in diameter and frequently contained from two to three dozen good-sized crayfish each weighing several pounds. The men were all unanimous that this shark was something the like of which they had never dreamed of. In company with the local Fisheries Inspector I questioned many of the men very closely and they all agreed as to the gigantic stature of the beast. But the lengths they gave were, on the whole, absurd. I mention them, however, as an indication of the state of mind which this unusual giant had thrown them into. And bear in mind that these were men who were used to the sea and all sorts of weather, and all sorts of sharks as well. One of the crew said the shark was "three hundred feet long at least"! Others said it was as long as the wharf on which we stood--about 115 feet! They affirmed that the water "boiled" over a large space when the fish swam past. They were all familiar with whales, which they had often seen passing at sea, but this was a vast shark. They had seen its terrible head which was "at least as long as the roof on the wharf shed at Nelson's Bay." Impossible, of course! But these were prosaic and rather stolid men, not given to 'fish stories' nor even to talking about their catches. Further, they knew that the person they were talking to (myself) had heard all the fish stories years before! One of the things that impressed me was that they all agreed as to the ghostly whitish color of the vast fish."(3)

In this popular account, we apparently have credible witnesses, and a knowledgeable investigator, Stead, who believed the fishermen were telling the truth (and that they may have witnessed a living Megalodon). I believe the "fact" that they did not return to sea for days could be added to their credibility, and to their loss in wages after the apparently traumatic experience (unless they were hoaxing the entire event, of course.) We also have some rather strange features in this report, including the tremendous lengths the fishermen reported, if we cannot attribute these to exaggeration due to intense fear. If we cannot, then it seems if Megalodon has survived, it may have grown bigger, and I am not sure which idea is scarier.
In his 1989 book There Are Giants in the Sea, BBC film producer and wildlife author Michael Bright concludes his sea-monster volume with mention of the giant fish:

Imagine, then, the shock when scientists dredging the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, earlier this century, discovered two 10 cm. (4 in.) long megalodon teeth that were what can only be described as geologically "fresh." One was estimated to be 24,000 years old--roughly the time of the Lascaux cave paintings. The other was just 11,000 years old and therefore belonged to a gigantic shark that swam in the Pacific Ocean at the same time as man was migrating from Asia into North America. Could this enormous predator still be lurking in the ocean depths?(4)

I suppose we'll have to see what the oceans of the world turn up for the monster hunters to hold triumphantly over the heads of skeptics. But how exciting it would be if a 70-foot shark was deposited on the shores of California, surrounded by excited vacationers with video cameras in tow. Putting child-like dreaming aside, however, leaves us with the fact that whether or not the huge Megalodon is alive today is debatable only on theoretical grounds. Despite thousands of giant, still fossilized teeth, no matter how "fresh" they might be, and the amazing (perhaps exaggerated) report from Stead, there is not much to go on.(5) However, if some shark experts can agree not to completely write off "Meg" into extinction, then we might want to ponder the possibility that Peter Benchley's imagination is not as wild as we thought it was. And we will never go deep-sea fishing in anything smaller than an aircraft carrier ever again.

Actually, you can think about all that. I'll keep chiseling for more replica teeth.

[In the Australian case frequently noted, including above, I tend to call that an unusually-pale "Yellow-Belly" instead. White sharks are not WHITE. -DD]

Rare Whale Caught on Film-Google News Item

Rare whale caught on film for first time

The Shepherd's beaked whale is so rare it has never been filmed live before
  (AFP/Australian Antarctic Division, Mike Double)

(AFP) – 9 hours ago

SYDNEY — Australian researchers Thursday revealed they had filmed a pod of extremely rare Shepherd's beaked whales for the first time ever.

The Australian Antarctic Division team was tracking blue whales off the coast of Victoria state last month when they spotted the reclusive mammals, which are so rarely seen that no population estimates of the species exist.

Voyage leader Michael Double said the black and cream-coloured mammals with prominent dolphin-like beaks had been spotted in the wild only a handful of times through history.

According to the Australian environment department, there have only been two previous confirmed sightings -- a lone individual in New Zealand and a group of three in Western Australia

They have never been filmed live before.

"These animals are practically entirely known from stranded dead whales, and there haven't been many of them," Double told AFP, calling the footage "unique".

"They are an offshore animal, occupying deep water, and when they surface it is only for a very short period of time."

Double said what was remarkable about the sighting was that the whale was previously thought to be a solitary creature, yet was in a pod of 10 to 12.

"To find them in a pod is very exciting and will change the guide books. Our two whale experts will now carefully study the footage to work out the whale sizes and so on and prepare a scientific paper."

The Shepherd's beaked whale, also known as the Tasman beaked whale, was discovered in 1937 but little is known about them.

Copyright © 2012 AFP. All rights reserved.

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