The Megamouth Shark Is The Creature Of Your Nightmares

Warning: It will probably eat you.

Monsters really do exist. Or at least they do in Japan, where an ordinary fisherman managed to haul a 1,500-pound megamouth shark to shore from more than 2,600 feet below the ocean’s surface.

Originally discovered in 1976 in Hawaii, the monstrous sea creature is quite rare and has only been seen 57 times since the first sighting. Trying to find out more about it, Japanese scientists performed a public autopsy at the Marine Science Museum in Shizuoka City, in which onlookers had a chance to get up close and personal with the beast.


Aside from Japan, Senegal, Equador, South Africa, and California have also reported various sightings throughout the years. Let us repeat: Californians have seen the megamouth shark. As in, the US State of California. Between this and that FloridianGoblin Shark, we’re never getting back in the water again. Unless it’s one of those above-ground pool deals.

Photos by Natural History Museum and Institue / Landov