Skip to content

Southern Fried Science

Over 15 years of ocean science and conservation online

  • Home
  • About SFS
  • Authors
  • Support SFS

Tag: megalodon

We Were Wrong About Megalodon: lessons learned from 10 years combating fake science in popular media

Posted on March 4, 2024March 4, 2024 By Andrew Thaler
We Were Wrong About Megalodon: lessons learned from 10 years combating fake science in popular media
Blogging, Education, Featured

Twelve years ago, Discovery Channel aired a documentary so egregiously bad, so wildly dishonest, and so utterly contemptuous of its audience, that it set the entire Science Blogging Community alight. And then, a year later, they followed it up with another. This was a clarifying moment for science, and especially ocean science, blogging. We weren’t … Read More “We Were Wrong About Megalodon: lessons learned from 10 years combating fake science in popular media” »

Finding Megalodon at the bottom of the sea

Posted on January 2, 2024January 5, 2024 By Andrew Thaler
Finding Megalodon at the bottom of the sea
Featured, Science

Since the first Challenger Expedition, deep-sea explorers have recovered shark teeth from the bottom of the ocean. Sharks shed their teeth almost as much as Twitter sheds users after changing its name to the symbol synonymous with closing your browser. Shark teeth crop up in deepwater trawls, geologic samples, and even embedded in the core … Read More “Finding Megalodon at the bottom of the sea” »

The real deep reefs of South Carolina, dolphin chatter, autonomous starfish killing robots, an exciting submarine discovery, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: September 3, 2018

Posted on September 3, 2018 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • Robots versus Aliens is my favorite genre of conservation technology. Sea-Star Murdering Robots Are Deployed in the Great Barrier Reef.
  • Fish Bombardment is my other. Video: Utah Officials Restock Remote Lakes by Plane.

The Gam (conversations from the ocean-podcasting world)

Speak Up for the Blue with two great recent episodes.

Read More “The real deep reefs of South Carolina, dolphin chatter, autonomous starfish killing robots, an exciting submarine discovery, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: September 3, 2018” »

A scene-by-scene breakdown of the first trailer of “The Meg”

Posted on April 10, 2018April 10, 2018 By David Shiffman 1 Comment on A scene-by-scene breakdown of the first trailer of “The Meg”
Blogging, Popular Culture

Yesterday, the trailer for “the Meg” was released online.  This movie is based on a popular book series that claims that megalodon is actually not extinct, just hiding. (I’m in the 4th book).


I have a love-hate relationship with movies like this, by which I mean that I love them and I hate myself for loving them. While movies like “Jaws” had a measurable negative effect on public perception of sharks, I don’t believe that more obviously ridiculous movies like SharkNado have a similar effect.  Jason Statham playing a marine biologist in a movie that includes Rainn Wilson? Sign me up.

If not for the people who believe that these movies are real and therefore decide to yell at marine biologists on twitter about it, I’d be all for this.  Let’s be totally clear here- Carcharocles megalodon is extinct, and here’s how we know. Shark Week lied to you about it. Actresses from this movie asking about it are not experts. This movie is completely fictional. You can certainly watch it and enjoy it, but please don’t cite it as evidence that a 50 foot long whale-eating shark that used to live in shallow coastal waters near what are now populated areas is not extinct.

Anyway, here is a scene-by scene breakdown of what’s in the first trailer. From it, we can tell that this is an action-packed movie with a great cast that does not stick too closely to the books, and is also not particularly interested in scientific accuracy even with respect to issues unrelated to the “giant extinct animals are actually not extinct”central conceit.

Read More “A scene-by-scene breakdown of the first trailer of “The Meg”” »

This month’s 3D printed reward is a megalodon tooth! Here are 5 things to know about megalodon.

Posted on March 14, 2018March 13, 2018 By David Shiffman
Education, Science

I recently unveiled a new tier of Patreon rewards: 3D printed shark and ray models! For $17 per month, you will get a monthly 3D printed educational model of different shark or ray parts in the mail, and you’ll be supporting my efforts to provide these models to schools for free.

The first month’s reward comes from one of the most (in)famous sharks of all time, Carcharocles megalodon! The first 3D printed Patreon reward is a meg tooth, an exact copy of the meg tooth that has been used to educate thousands of students at UBC’s Beaty Biodiversity Museum!

The original tooth

Here are some things to know about Carcharocles megalodon!

Read More “This month’s 3D printed reward is a megalodon tooth! Here are 5 things to know about megalodon.” »

Meet me in Borneo, exploitation on the high seas, navy sonars, creature reports, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: March 12, 2018.

Posted on March 12, 2018March 12, 2018 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Happy Monday-est Monday!

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

  • This is the final week to get you abstracts in for the International Marine Conservation Congress, the premier ocean conservation conference, coming to you from Kuching, Malaysia this June! We got a cracking good symposium on human impacts in the deep sea and plenty of travel grants available for researchers in need. And, for the first time, we’ll be hosting Make for the Planet, Borneo!

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • An outstanding piece on exploitation in the high seas by Jeff Marlow. The High Seas Are Being Exploited. Exploration Must Keep Pace.
  • This is a thing that happened:

Tweet about potential confirmation of Amelia Earhart's remains.

Read More “Meet me in Borneo, exploitation on the high seas, navy sonars, creature reports, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: March 12, 2018.” »

Bone-eating zombie worms, octopus overlords, old wooden ships and new woes for deep-sea mining. It’s the Monday Morning Salvage! January 1, 2018.

Posted on January 1, 2018January 6, 2018 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

  • Stop. Breathe. Take a step back. This can all be incredibly overwhelming. Pick the fight that matters most to you and take a few days deciding what success looks like, what strategies will work, and what tactics are available to you. And then hoist your flag and get to work.

  • And when you meet someone fighting a different fight, remember to support them. There are already enough fronts to advance without taking friendly fire from our flanks.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • Maybe it’s time to seriously consider just giving control of the world to the cephalopods. A New Species of Giant Octopus Has Been Hiding in Plain Sight.
The frilled giant Pacific octopus. Photo Courtesy D. Scheel
  • The most depressing annual run-down on the environmental science web: The Animals That Went Extinct in 2017.

Read More “Bone-eating zombie worms, octopus overlords, old wooden ships and new woes for deep-sea mining. It’s the Monday Morning Salvage! January 1, 2018.” »

Monday Morning Salvage: January 16, 2017

Posted on January 16, 2017January 15, 2017 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • Ruby Sea Dragons! For the First Time, a Ruby Sea Dragon has been filmed in the wild, and it is magnificent.

  • Some SFS deep history: I got my start in marine science working in a seahorse lab. Seahorses are among my favorite animals.

Jetsam (what we’re enjoying from around the web)

Read More “Monday Morning Salvage: January 16, 2017” »

A Mega Apology for Megalodon

Posted on January 2, 2016January 2, 2016 By Andrew Thaler 3 Comments on A Mega Apology for Megalodon
Uncategorized

On January 1, 2016, the Southern Fried Science central server began uploading blog posts apparently circa 2041. Due to a related corruption of the contemporary database, we are, at this time, unable to remove these Field Notes from the Future or prevent the uploading of additional posts. Please enjoy this glimpse into the ocean future while we attempt to rectify the situation.


brokenLast April I did something dumb. As longtime readers no doubt know, in the last few years the April Fools pranks between me and David Shiffman have gotten… excessive. After he had my favorite dog cloned a dozen times (thanks for that, buddy, they’re all doing great), I had to step up my game. Well, it looks like all these years of continuously one-upping each other, we have finally found the upper limit.

David has been railing against the non-existence of Megalodon for decades. It is the myth that will not die. Ages ago, I naively thought after Shark Week 2015 and our paper, we would finally be done with the Megalodon Conspiracy, but, unlike its namesake, the legend persists.

So, early last year I used CRISPR-CRASS to do something I’ve always wanted to try. With the help of some students, who will remain unnamed, I de-extincted Carcharocles megalodon and quietly deposited it in one of his unused behavioral test tanks. He returned from the field to discover that, finally, the monster shark lives.

brokenWe thought it was hilarious. A couple months later, I wrote about the process of garage de-extinction for Mouthfeedr (seriously, how cool is it that you can bring a species back from oblivion with the tools available in a modestly well-equipped bio-shack?).

Read More “A Mega Apology for Megalodon” »

Fish tales: Combating fake science in popular media

Posted on September 23, 2015September 22, 2015 By Andrew Thaler
Uncategorized

Yesterday, after months of waiting, David and my magnum opus on our efforts to stem the tide of fake documentaries was, at last, made available online: Fish tales: Combating fake science in popular media. What role should scientist play in correcting bad science, fake science, and pseudoscience presented in popular media? Here, we present a case … Read More “Fish tales: Combating fake science in popular media” »

Posts pagination

1 2 Next

Recent Popular Posts

It's 2025. Why do so many scientific journal articles still display weird when shared on social media?It's 2025. Why do so many scientific journal articles still display weird when shared on social media?May 20, 2025David Shiffman
Shark of Darkness: Wrath of Submarine is a fake documentaryShark of Darkness: Wrath of Submarine is a fake documentaryAugust 10, 2014Michelle Jewell
Our favorite sea monsters – Ningen (#4)Our favorite sea monsters – Ningen (#4)September 7, 2010Andrew Thaler
Alberta, Canada is the proud owner of the largest man-made pyramid on the planetAlberta, Canada is the proud owner of the largest man-made pyramid on the planetOctober 16, 2012Andrew Thaler
What is a Sand Shark?What is a Sand Shark?November 12, 2017Chuck Bangley
What can the funniest shark memes on the internetz teach us about ocean science and conservation?What can the funniest shark memes on the internetz teach us about ocean science and conservation?November 8, 2013David Shiffman
I turned my woodshop into a personal solar farm.I turned my woodshop into a personal solar farm.June 21, 2021Andrew Thaler
A quick and dirty guide to making custom feeds on BlueskyA quick and dirty guide to making custom feeds on BlueskyFebruary 7, 2024Andrew Thaler
Deep-sea Mining: It’s science fiction, until it isn’t.Deep-sea Mining: It’s science fiction, until it isn’t.May 14, 2025Andrew Thaler
Here's what I teach my students about finding jobs in marine biology and conservationHere's what I teach my students about finding jobs in marine biology and conservationApril 10, 2024David Shiffman
Subscribe to our RSS Feed for updates whenever new articles are published.

We recommend Feedly for RSS management. It's like Google Reader, except it still exists.

Southern Fried Science

  • Home
  • About SFS
  • Authors
  • Support SFS


If you enjoy Southern Fried Science, consider contributing to our Patreon campaign.

Copyright © 2025 Southern Fried Science.

Theme: Oceanly Premium by ScriptsTown