About This Project

The Megamouth is one of our ocean's most enigmatic shark species. We know almost nothing about this iconic and mysterious deep-sea giant. Recently, Taiwan has had a spike in Megamouth encounters. When fishers catch a Megamouth, the crew cannot afford to release the shark, and they are sold in the fish markets. The captains on this very small fishing fleet have agreed to allow us to study, tag, and RELEASE these peaceful giants, if we compensate them for the animal would bring at the market.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

The Megamouth shark (Megachasma pelagios) is one of nature's strangest and poorly understood megafauna. Despite their size, they remained undiscovered until 1976. Since that time Megamouth encounters have continued to be extremely rare, and we still know almost nothing about them.

Scientists at the Pacific Shark Research Center are teaming up with researchers from the National Taiwan Ocean University to launch the world's first large scale Megamouth tracking project. This project will not only directly save Megamouths caught as bycatch but will also help solve the mega mystery behind these strange sharks. We will go from knowing nothing about these otherworldly sharks to having a good idea of their life histories and, more importantly, learning what we need to know to protect them.

What is the significance of this project?

There is currently a void in our knowledge concerning how long they live, how quickly they reproduce, or how their populations will be able to handle this increase in human interactions. Now is the time for us to act and take this opportunity to proactively conduct research before there are negative impacts. So often do shark populations only receive attention after it is too late; let's change that by learning about Megamouths before we affect their survival.

What are the goals of the project?

The goals of this project are simple: save Megamouths and collect data to protect the species. During the release, life history data will be taken to help us learn about Megamouths, and a pop-up satellite archival tag will be attached to the shark's dorsal fin. These sophisticated tags will collect detailed data: light levels, depth and vertical migration, location data to understand migration patterns, temperature, and salinity.

The "big picture" objectives of this project are to collect data to provide a fully comprehensive description of the life history characteristics of Megamouth sharks. If we want to protect these wonderful animals, we need a foundation of information in order to guide policy decisions that promote sustainable fisheries and conserve deep-sea ecosystems.