On November 15, 1976 the first Megamouth shark was caught by a U.S. Navy ship off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii. It was a small shark measuring at 446cm but it had a large mouth. This Shark is extremely rare due to the fact that it lives deep within the ocean.

“The second individual was caught by anglers on November 29, 1984 – almost eight years following the first find – with a deep sea net off the coast of Catalina Island in California (Lavenberg and Seigel, 1985). This 449 cm long male was preserved and today can be viewed by the public in the Los Angeles County Museum in California.”

These sharks were few for a long time rarely popping up every 8 or so years scientist thought that this was due to its habitat deep within the ocean. Since its discovery its only been spotted 63 times world wide. They live in ocean depths of up to 500 feet during the day time which explains why they are rarely seen by humans. The shark travels closer to the surface at night to feed.

Megamouths are weak swimmers and cannot easily escape predators which is another reason they like to stick to the deeper oceans. They usually measure at around six and a half feet but have been spotted at the length of 17 feet. These sharks are filter feeders mainly surviving on plankton. Its large oral cavity helps it to filter in many plankton at one time.

On January 7th, 2015 a Megamouth washed up on the shore of Marigondon, a port in Pio Duran, Albay in the Philippians. It is currently unclear how this shark died but scientists at the scene believe it was caught in a fishing net loosing its ability to find food.

“This isn’t the first time that a megamouth has turned up in the Philippines; in fact, this country has the second highest number of sightings after Japan, according to Earth Touch News. Just last year, a 5.5-meter (18 ft) shark, weighing some 500 kilograms (1,100 lb), was caught alive in a fisherman’s net in Cagayan de Oro, although it died shortly afterward”

In the end the Megamouth shark seems to be appearing more and more as the years go on. Its large mouth making it quite the spectacle when it is spotted.