A recent paper has proved conclusively that the greatest predator that has ever existed in the planet's history became extinct around 2.6 million years ago.

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%...l.pone.0111086

It's hardly rocket science either despite the bullshit fake 'documentaries' from the Discovery Channel Shark Week every bloody year.

Let's face it if there was a macro-predatory shark measuring up to 20 metres long and weighing over 100 tons still haunting the world's oceans I think we would have a tiny bit more evidence - like fully grown whales being bitten in two for example.

For anyone interested in the mighty and mysterious Greenland shark this is one of the best sites on the web.

http://www.geerg.ca/index.html

A top contender for w****r of the year - if he had been bitten this would have been widely reported in the media as a 'shark attack' and huge numbers of rednecks would demand the mass slaughter of these beautiful animals.

Human idiocy at it's best.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...are-mates.html

A new documentary about the sighting of a gigantic White shark in New Zealand waters for anybody who has the Discovery Channel.

Personally I think that there is zero chance of any White shark being anywhere near 9.4 metres long (although I think some exceptional specimens could exceed 7 or even approach 7.5 - 8 metres given the decades needed to recover from overfishing).

http://www.inquisitr.com/1612259/mod...k-new-zealand/

Some wonderful (if rather bloody) aerial photos of a White shark predation event on a seal - and this looks like a bloody big shark from comparison with the research boat.

https://www.facebook.com/atlanticwhi...27125874035397

And a link to the Atlantic White shark Conservancy Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/atlanticwhiteshark

WOW...just like in Jaws !! poor seal though.

At least the seal dies very quickly - that is a mercy.

A great recent article from the Independent about arguably the world's most misunderstood animals.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environ...g-9887898.html

Some excellent articles (with plenty of links in bold) on some very mysterious deep water sharks that could all also qualify for the 'Real Life Sea Monsters' thread on here.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/56572...g-goblin-shark

http://mentalfloss.com/article/60781...reenland-shark

http://mentalfloss.com/article/56694...egamouth-shark

http://mentalfloss.com/article/60129...-frilled-shark

http://mentalfloss.com/article/57124...iecutter-shark

One time, a 35 footer attacked Seaworld in Florida.


It ate Manimal, but Dennis Quaid managed to blow it up.

Political vote grabbing at it most repellent - remarkable in it's stupidity, a shark is actually daring to swim in the sea - so we have to murder it.

FFS.

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/west...30740dace691e7

And the response.

http://www.theguardian.com/environme...rs-expert-says

And an interesting article.

https://www.thedodo.com/19-things-wa...598326401.html

Over the last few years Colin Barnett has shown himself to be the worst sort of redneck vote-grubbing politician.

How dare sharks swim in the ocean like they have done for half a billion years!

However he is now moderating his language because he knows people see him for what he really is.

Tragic as this attack was (very likely a simple mistake with blood and fish in the water as a shark this size could totally destroy anything it wanted ) it is such an incredibly rare event.

What a tosser.

http://www.theguardian.com/environme...serious-threat

Interesting possible Mako attack on the bull Orca 'John Coe' off the coast of West Scotland - the shark certainly must have been in a very bold mood but Mako's move like sheet-lightning and I doubt that the cetacean even had time to react from the bite before it had gone.

http://www.deadlinenews.co.uk/2015/0...e-says-expert/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotlan...lands-30980599

Forget all those those tabloid news reports about Flipper 'saving' divers - this is what really happens when dolphins encounter a hungry shark of their own size or larger.

And it is not pretty.

http://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-...rom=public_rss

Pacific sleeper shark predation on Stellers sea lions.

http://www.alaskapublic.org/2015/01/...leeper-sharks/

And these sharks can grow to be big.

This specimen (filmed in deep water off Japan) was estimated at well over 7 metres long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kVLXvDsDtQ

New cutting-edge scientific research suggest that White sharks grow up even more slowly than was ever suspected - 33 years for a female and 26 years for a male to reach full sexual maturity.

No wonder so few of the truly massive adults are seen on film or are tagged - they must be so very rare now.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0218101907.htm

http://www.livescience.com/49874-sha...r-thought.html

RIP Eugenie Clark.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...tuary-science/

I have no idea how to do this but would it be possible to merge this thread with my Real Life Sea Monsters one?

Just wondering as the are of a similar theme (although of course no animal is really a 'monster').

You mention evolution, but the shark has actually got smaller.

There was a prehistoric beast called a Megalodon that was much larger:

Link

Contact DS Forum Support and provide them with the URLs of the two threads, asking if they an be merged. If offered, ask for a reply to your request (tick a box).

Great White sharks are best observed from afar, IMO. Although they are not generally interested in attacking or eating humans, I'm not going to put myself in a position where I might find out. That's for other people to do. Anything that has more teeth than I do tends to scare me.

No - that is a totally wrong understanding of evolution.

I am well aware of the various species of the prehistoric Mega-toothed sharks and have commented frequently on them in the palaeontology thread and on here for that matter.

Megalodon the largest of them all was probably the greatest, biggest and longest lasting apex predator that has ever lived - but it is gone now.

I was referring to todays sharks of which the White shark is the ultimate living example.

Do we insult the big cats or bears for their totally pitiful size and predatory power when compared to a ten ton Tyrannosaurus rex or other carnivorous dinosaurs?

No.

Janet Street Porter?

Thanks for that.

Humanity at it's very best.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=914202078610576

A few more White shark facts - and a top speed of 55 kph is bloody fast in a liquid medium!

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articl...jVOnk.facebook

How is that 'totally wrong understanding of evolution'?

I wasn't 'insulting' sharks either I was simply pointing out, bigger sharks have existed.

http://sarasotafins.weebly.com/uploa...30787_orig.jpg

Several fiction books written about the Megalodon. Meg was a good read I thought.

I thought you were saying 'bigger is better' - my apologies.

Formidable sharks are nothing new - the utterly lethal Ginsu shark (Cretoxyhrina mantelli) from the Cretaceous interior sea is just one example.

The famous (and massive) 6.1 metre PEI white shark (5.3 metre 'fork length' hence the discrepancy in the reports) had a lot of growing to do.

http://www.inquisitr.com/1912296/leg...when-she-died/

http://canadajournal.net/science/leg...ls-23920-2015/

All the latest evidence suggest 8 metre White sharks may indeed be possible - if they are not killed before they reach the great age required to attain such gargantuan proportions.

Why some sharks and bony fish evolved warm blood - simply put - speed and endurance.

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150...em-turbo-speed

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/h...cies.123731255

http://www.deadlinenews.co.uk/2015/0...of-st-andrews/