Megalodon: Scientists mistake mackerel pack for prehistoric shark

After a research team at Atlantic Shark Institute saw a 50 feet long red shape in a sea scanner, all the initial conclusions pointed to a Megalodon – a pre-historic shark, weighing around 40 tonnes. They were shocked for a while and left glimmery-eyed.

If what they initially thought was found to be true, then the Megalodon – a shark species that went extinct more than 3 million years ago, would be making a comeback in the seas. 

Also read: Where to find Ferrari in Fortnite?

‘Does the Meg exist?’, read an Instagram post from the institute, along with an image of the red shape that caused a stir during a shark research trip. 

However, their momentary excitement soon faded into thin air when the shape disintegrated into thousands of small pieces within minutes. 

“We waited for one of the rods to go off however, much to our disappointment, the shape started to transition into a large school of Atlantic mackerel that hung around the boat for about 15 minutes,” the Instagram post further said. 

Mackerels often go out in packs to hunt for food and it was one such pack that was observed in the sea scanner. Much to the disappointment of the researchers, the prehistoric sea creature which last appeared in Jason Statham starrer 2018 thriller of the same name, continues to be extinct. 

Also read: Indian Predator: The Diary of a Serial Killer: 5 infamous Indian serial killers

According to the Natural History Museum, the Megalodon were one of the most powerful and dominant predators to ever exist in the sea. They existed for 13 million years before becoming extinct. 

“So close, but so far! The Megalodon (Otodus megalodon), disappeared more than 3 million years ago and will likely stay that way, but for a few minutes, we thought he had returned,” the post concluded. 

In a comment reply, the Atlantic Shark Institute clarified that they were using a Garmin 8600 radar system on the boat that found the Megalodon-shaped Atlantic mackerel pack.