TikTok video of a gigantic shark thought to be extinct goes viral

Was a giant shark in the Atlantic Ocean caught on film? This TikTok video has caused a lot of talk…

Shark
© Alex Albrecht—TikTok
Shark

The scene, which may frighten some people, was filmed on a tourist cruise on the Atlantic Ocean. Musician Alex Albrecht took out his phone, filmed the whole thing, and then posted it on TikTok. So what are we talking about? The internet user was able to film a... gigantic shark.

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@.alex.albrecht

Sailed six weeks in the atlantic saw this big fucking shark

♬ original sound - Alex Albrecht

Several days after its publication, this short video has more than 53 million views, more than 6 million likes, and over 64,000 comments. On the boat, some tourists can be heard shouting expletives in surprise at the sight of the shark. But, was it really a shark?

A megalodon, really?

After the video was posted, some people claimed it was a megalodon, a prehistoric shark that can measure over 65 feet. The problem is that this species, which is considered to be one of the largest predators in the history of the planet Earth, lived during the Miocene and Pliocene periods and is thought to have disappeared nearly 2 million years ago.

The megalodon had huge teeth, up to 6 inches long. It is thought to have disappeared exactly 2.6 million years ago, due to a lack of food. As you can see, the shark in the video is not a megalodon. It is in fact a basking shark.

But that's no mean feat since this species of shark can measure up to 40 feet. In fact, it is the largest living fish on Earth after the whale shark. Scary, though, no?

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