The Megamouth Shark
In 1976, a Navy ship hauled up its sea anchor and found a 4.5-metre shark tangled in it, unlike anything science had seen.
What was reported
On 15 November 1976, a US Navy research vessel working off the island of Oahu in Hawaiʻi pulled in a parachute-like sea anchor it had lowered deep into the water. Tangled in it was a large shark, about 4.5 metres long, with a huge, rubbery mouth and soft, flabby body.
Scientists realised it belonged not just to a new species but to a whole new family of sharks. It was named megamouth.
Explanations offered
Megamouth sharks are gentle filter feeders that live in the deep ocean and rise towards the surface at night to feed on plankton. Only a few hundred have been seen since 1976. Their discovery showed that even large animals can remain hidden in the deep sea.
- When
- Discovered on 15 November 1976
- Where
- Off Oahu, Hawaiʻi, USA
- Witnesses
- A US Navy research crew
- Status
- Confirmed
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.