The appearance of an enormous shark-shaped blob on a research vessel’s sonar display recently had scientists pondering the existence of the long-extinct Megalodon.
“Does the Meg exist?” The Atlantic Shark Institute, based in Rhode Island, asked this week on Facebook.
Based on the size of the blob, which resembled and moved like a shark, the creature would have measured 50 feet and weighed 40 tons.
The excitement lasted several minutes and the scientists were hopeful that one of the fishing rods would signal a bite.
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“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 Atlantic Shark Institute explained.
“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!”
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