No, this gigantic shark is not a ‘megalodon’

A TikTok showing a massive shark prompted a real stir online.

Why?

Well, some speculated that the shark was a megalodon.

Megalodons became extinct over 3.6 million years ago but it didn’t stop people from comparing the large shark to their enormous pre-historic creature that dominated oceans.

The video was shared by musician Alex Albrecht, who goes by @.alex.albrecht on the platform, while he was sailing on a yacht in the Atlantic ocean.

The caption said: ”Sailed six weeks in the atlantic saw this big f*****g shark, you see the shark, which appears to be a basking shark.”

A shark is mistaken for a Megalodon.Photo courtesy of .alex.albrecht/TikTok

Basking sharks are the second-largest living shark and fish after the whale shark. They also eat plankton and are no danger to humans, although their skin is a bit rugged, so there are still precautions.

Albrecht’s video has been viewed 37.4 million times, with many people giving their two cents about what they thought was happening in the vast ocean.

One said: “It’s a basking shark; they are harmless and only eat plankton.”

Someone else said the basking shark “can’t hurt u even if they wanted to.”

All of this sounds about right. Basking sharks have no interest in people as they have hundreds of small teeth, unlike the large teeth of a great white shark. They also eat microorganisms.

But others believed that the Albrecht had taken a trip to the Miocene and Pliocene epochs.

“It’s a megalodon,” wrote TikTok comedian Matt Krath.

“Baby megalodon,” wrote another.

Although we can see the resemblance, it’s definitely not a megalodon. They lived on the planet  23 to 5.3 million years ago and had a mighty bite. They can also reach a length of 82 feet.

Still, quite an impressive sight.