#TikTok of Giant Shark Terrorizing Tourists Ignites Megalodon Theories

A recent video of a giant shark scaring some tourists has made the rounds on TikTok, and it had people believing we were seeing The Meg in real life. The original video, which has been viewed millions of times and shared all across social media, features a huge shark that some have speculated could be a relic of the past. Namely, the extinct megalodon. But it appears there is a perfectly logical explanation for the creature in the video. Though it’s still a remarkable sight.

The video was originally shared by musician Alex Albrecht. He had been sailing in the Atlantic when the footage in question was captured. Passengers on the boat can be heard marveling, some in terror, at the sight of the humongous sea creature. “Sailed six weeks in the atlantic saw this big f****** shark,” the caption to the video reads. The sheer size of the oceanic beast led some who viewed the video to believe it to be a megalodon. The video has since amassed more than 37 million views. Hundreds of comments have also been shared.
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Boy finds tooth of megalodon, biggest shark to ever live, on 5th birthday https://t.co/YdnqI98070

— Newsweek (@Newsweek) May 27, 2021

One commenter stated, “Yup is definitely the Megalodon!!” Another said, “I’m just saying no one can say that the megalodon don’t exists when we have only explored 5% of the ocean.” While it is true that much of the ocean remains unexplored, these ancient creatures went extinct more than 3.6 million years ago. Rather, as several other commenters pointed out, this appears to be a basking shark. And that would certainly explain the creature’s massive size, as they are the second largest sharks known to exist, right next to the whale shark.

“Isn’t that megalodon?” (with video) https://t.co/NzXTzM5Pzo

— Fark (@fark) May 27, 2021

It is also important to note, given the tone of some of the comments, that basking sharks are virtually harmless to humans. They only eat plankton. Shark attacks, even with ones that are carnivores, are relatively rare as is. Though humans should always exercise caution around large, wild animals.

Megalodon anyone? Kidding, that’s our good old friend… the #baskingshark! https://t.co/gGMG4idoy3

— Markus Hemmler (@Globsterologe) May 27, 2021

In megalodon news that is a bit more real, a young boy recently found an actual tooth from one of the extinct creatures on the beach in South Carolina. Brayden Drew, on his fifth birthday, discovered the four-inch tooth. HIs mom, Marissa, in an interview with Newsweek, said the following.

saved this tiktok just for @cal_ess 🙂
i think it is a basking shark? pic.twitter.com/E0YK9uZmuR

— 🌿em is a lesbian boyfriend🌿 (@violet_octupi) May 27, 2021

“It was my son’s fifth birthday on the 20th. We were on vacation down at Myrtle for the second year in a row. He was digging in the sand and found it! My husband is now determined to keep looking for other teeth. He found a huge conch shell in Cancun a few years ago. So I think it runs in the family.”

On the movie side of things, we will see Jason Statham once again duking it out with at least one, if not multiple megalodons in The Meg 2. Ben Wheatley is set to direct the sequel to 2018’s shark flick, which became a huge hit for Warner Bros. Be sure to check out the original video from Alex Albrecht’s TikTok for yourself.

Topics: TikTok, Meg