If you plan on getting any more footage, you have to go after it. But is it safe?
To go after the camera, press here.
To stay in the cage, press here.
You need to go after your camera, but there’s no way you’re going out there with the aggressive shark circling the cage. Instead, you wait patiently until it swims off into the distance.
You carefully unlatch the cage and swim out of it. You feel some fear, knowing that the great white could still return, but you need your camera. It’s a chance you’re willing to take. You swiftly swim toward the ocean floor in search of the camera.
There is a long, winding reef below you. Fish dart in and out of its gaps. You even see an octopus skirting and skimming along the ocean floor. It kicks up dirt and silt in its wake.
It takes you some time, but you finally spy your camera caught in the reef. Relieved, you swim over to free it.
Colorful coral reefs are home to a wide range of ocean life. You’re also feeling safer about being outside the cage. You take a moment to look around and snap photos of your surroundings. Looking in both directions, you can see the reef to your left growing larger. But there is also a trench in the ocean floor to your right. Either could offer a chance at finding something interesting.
To head left toward the reef, press here.
To head right toward the trench, press here.
You decide to head for the larger section of the reef. Swimming confidently, you make it there easily. You find that it’s large enough for you to swim between the gaps.
As you do, though, a shadow once again appears. Before you know it, the great white shark you saw earlier darts out of the reef. Its jaws are open wide. You try to retreat, but you’re caught up in the reef!
The angry shark is upon you, and there’s no escape. Your search for the megalodon is over at the bottom of the ocean.
THE END
To read another adventure, press here.
To learn more about the kraken, press here.
The reef was the last area you saw the great white shark. Exploring there doesn’t seem like the best option. However, the trench looks like a great place to find something as large as a megalodon.
As you swim toward the trench, you see that it’s larger than you thought at first. That’s exciting. But it’s also somewhat scary. Who knows what might be lurking down there? You begin to swim down into the depths of the trench. The light fades fast, so you click on small lamps on your scuba gear and your camera.
The trench is dark, yet beautiful. You begin recording video on your camera. Eventually you see the bottom of the trench. It’s teeming with marine life swimming about. You see strange fish, jellyfish, squid, and other creatures. You sweep your camera around to get footage of all of it.
It’s beautiful. But it’s not what you’re searching for. You begin to get frustrated by the lack of something spectacular. Just as you’re about to give up and swim back, a large shadow passes over you. Startled, you quickly look up to see what it is.
The light from your lamps is low. But you need to get photos of the creature.
Your heartbeat quickens. The creature’s silhouette appears like a great white. But it’s larger than the one you saw before. You try to remain calm and aim your camera at the beast. You capture a fair amount of video before it swims off.
After a time, you swim out of the trench and head back to the ship. You pass the open cage and break the surface.
“Welcome back!” Lan says as you climb aboard the ship. “How was your hunt?”
“See for yourself!” The crew gathers around as you show off the video and photos. The images are dark, and it’s hard to determine the size of the shape. But you feel confident in your discovery. Was it the supposedly extinct megalodon? You don’t know. But whatever it was, it was massive.
THE END
To read another adventure, press here.
To learn more about the kraken, press here.
Going down in the cage could provide a great view of the megalodon if it appeared. But you know that even the strong cage would be little protection against such a huge and powerful creature. You shake your head.
“I think I’ll stay dry for now,” you tell Lan.
“Suit yourself,” she replies. “It’s there if you need it. And we have scuba gear for you, as well.”
You find a good place near the bow of the ship to set up your tripod.
Hours later, you’ve seen nothing.
The day passes, and the team observes any underwater activity using their sonar equipment. You knew that coming all this way to find a long-extinct creature would be a long shot. But you had to try.
Then, as dusk approaches, something huge breaches the surface of the water in the distance.
“Did you see that?” one of the crew members calls out.
“I did!” Lan replies.
“Me too!” you excitedly add.
“It’s far bigger than the tiger sharks we’ve been tracking,” Lan says. “Let’s see if we can get a little closer.”
You agree. You already started recording video of the beast as it slips in and out of sight. But you want to get a better view. This could be your only chance.
You quickly don your scuba wet suit. “Help me with the rest,” you tell the crew. They hurry to outfit you with a tank of oxygen, a regulator for your mouth, and a pair of goggles.
You grab your camera and splash into the water. It’s cold and brisk, and even in the wet suit, it takes your breath away.
You can’t believe you’re throwing caution to the wind, but you don’t want to miss this chance. You swim closer to the shape in the water. However, as you get closer, you notice the creature isn’t alone.
A great white shark is also circling the area!
Great white sharks often have more than 50 razor-sharp teeth! To swim back to the ship, press here.
To defend yourself from the shark, press here.
Frantically, you swim back toward the ship. But you’ve gotten too close. The shark begins to swim your way!
You’ve been around great whites before. You know humans aren’t part of their usual diet. But this one seems overly aggressive. The great white is on you before you can reach the ship. Pain sears through your leg as the beast chomps down hard. The water around you turns red with blood.
“Help!” you cry out.
The ship’s crew throws out a life preserver to pull you close to the ship. You feel the shark release your leg, and the crew quickly drags you aboard.
“Thank… you…” is all you can say before you pass out. Your hunt for the megalodon is over.
THE END
To read another adventure, press here.
To learn more about the kraken, press here.
The shark hasn’t noticed you yet. You know enough not to panic. You’ve been in the ocean with many dangerous creatures before. You know how to defend yourself if necessary.
It looks like that may be the case now. The shark turns in the water and heads in your direction.
Great white sharks don’t typically eat humans. They prefer fish and other marine life. But they’re also the most aggressive predator in the ocean. You know they can be dangerous.
The shark continues swimming in your direction. Your heart thuds in your chest. You grip the camera hard, preparing to stand your ground. When the shark is close enough, you’ll be ready to swing your camera hard at its sensitive gills, nose, or eyes.
THWACK!
You’ve startled the shark. It swims away. But then it circles around and comes at you from another angle.
You twist in the water. As the shark nears again, you smack it hard on the gills again.
THWACK!
This time, the great white is so startled that it turns and swims away.
You remain
where you are, treading water and waiting to see if the shark will return.
It does not.
You stay in place in the water. You wait to see if the creature you spied earlier will make another appearance.
There! To your left, the mighty ocean beast breaks the surface. You raise your camera and quickly snap photos of it.
Then you dive beneath the surface and capture images of it underwater as well. However, the creature is some distance away. And the growing darkness has made it less visible underwater. But it doesn’t matter. You’re excited about the images you’re capturing.
When you’re safely back aboard the ship, you scan the footage. Yes! You’ve got something! The images are dark and moody. But there’s definitely a shadowy figure in them. It’s far too enormous to be a great white shark. Is it a megalodon? You can’t be sure. But you’re convinced it’s definitely something not normally seen in the ocean.
THE END
To read another adventure, press here.
To learn more about the kraken, press here.
You watch as your camera floats away, down and out of sight. The great white remains alongside the cage, rubbing against it. It’s not safe to exit the cage. Not yet.
You remain inside the cage where it’s safe. Eventually the great white swims away. But you’re running out of oxygen, and it’s beginning to grow dark. You signal the crew on the ship to bring you back up.
The cage rattles, and you begin to rise back to the surface. The crew cranks the cage up beside the ship and hauls it in.
“I lost my camera,” you explain to Lan. “If there’s another tank of oxygen, I need to go retrieve it.”
Lan places her hands on her hips. “We have more tanks,” she says. “But is it safe enough to go back down?”
“I can get it,” you assure her.
Lan looks doubtful, but she asks a crew member to grab a reserve tank of oxygen. He equips you with it, and you dive backward off the ship into the water.
You swim down toward the ocean floor. Because of the dimming light, you click on a small lamp on your wet suit. Soon, you can see a large reef running along the ocean floor. It’s most likely where your camera landed. But the ocean floor is immense. Your camera could be lost anywhere among the silt and dirt stirred up by sea creatures.
Where should you search?
To search the reef, press here.
To search the ocean floor, press here.
The reef is huge and filled with large gaps. It’s most likely the place where your camera came to rest.
You swim down toward the reef, noticing all of the sea life. Schools of fish swarm around you, caught in the lamp light of your wet suit. But there’s no sign of your camera yet.
Then you spot a glint of reflected light and swim toward it. Sure enough, the camera strap is caught on some coral, and your camera is hanging from it.
Thank goodness, you think, retrieving the camera from the reef.
With camera in hand, you prepare to swim toward the surface. But then something catches your eye. It’s nearly buried in the silt on the ocean floor.
You reach out and pluck it from the dirt. It’s a tooth! And not just any tooth—it’s huge. It’s even bigger than a great white shark’s tooth.
You realize what you have found and grow excited. You quickly swim to the surface with your find.
“Did you find your camera?” Lan asks as you climb the ladder back onto the ship.
“That and more!”
You strip off the scuba gear and set your camera aside.
“Look at this!” You pull out the huge tooth and show it to Lan.
She runs it between her fingers and whistles. “This is much larger than a tiger shark,” she says. “Even the samples of great white teeth we have are not this big. This is quite a find!”
The only known physical evidence of megalodon are fossilized teeth. The giant shark’s teeth grew up to 7 inches (18 centimeters) long! You’re incredibly excited by your find. It may not be as huge as a megalodon tooth. But it’s proof that something massive is prowling the waters of the Pacific Ocean!
THE END
To read another adventure, press here.
To learn more about the kraken, press here.
You quickly scan the reef area. But you feel like your camera would have fallen to the ocean floor. You’re worried that if it did fall there, then there’s a chance it’ll be buried before you find it.
You swim away from the reef and head to the open ocean floor. Sea life skims about, and a school of colorful fish circles you. The light from your lamp is low, making it hard to see much. A squid whisks its way past you.
As you scan the ocean floor, you spy a trench to your right. The trench could be where your camera drifted. It could also be very deep. Your search just became more difficult. But you need to at least try to see if the camera is down there.
You swim to the trench and dive down into it. It’s dark and hard to see. It doesn’t take you long to realize that your camera is gone. There’s no way you’ll find it in the murky trench.
Little is known about deep, dark ocean trenches. Could a giant, ancient beast like megalodon lurk in them? Dejected, you swim up out of the trench. As you head back toward the surface, you spy something in the water.
No. Not something. Some things.
Sharks. A whole group, or shiver, of them. Great whites. And they look hungry.
You need to hide.
To hide in the reef, press here.
To hide in the trench, press here.
You race toward the reef. Perhaps you can hide in one of the gaps there until the sharks are gone.
Fortunately, the great whites don’t stay long. They swim away in search of prey elsewhere. As you swim out of your hiding place, something catches your eye.
Looking closer, you see it’s a tooth! And it’s not just any tooth. It’s much larger than any you’ve seen before. It could be a tooth from a great white shark. But you’ve seen those before, and this is much bigger.
You aren’t sure what you’ve found. The tooth may not be as huge as a megalodon tooth. But it proves that something incredibly big, and maybe incredibly deadly, is prowling the waters of the Pacific Ocean!
THE END
To read another adventure, press here.
To learn more about the kraken, press here.
One of the great whites starts swimming in your direction. As it draws near, you dive back into the trench to hide.
You click off your lamp and wait in the darkness for the shark to pass. But it doesn’t leave. Instead it circles above you as if lying in wait. You look below for a way to escape. But then you see another group of sharks coming up out of the trench—straight for you!
You know the sharks are unlikely to attack, but you don’t want to risk it. You swim as quickly as you can out of the trench and head to the surface.
When you reach the ship, you quickly climb the ladder. You’re safe. But your camera is lost along with your photos and video. Your mission to find the megalodon has ended in failure.
THE END
To read another adventure, press here.
To learn more about the kraken, press here.
CHAPTER 5
SEA MONSTERS: REAL OR EXTINCT?
Earth’s oceans have long been a source of mystery and wonder. What could be hiding in the depths? Ancient myths and legends about giant, powerful creatures like the kraken only added to this sense of wonder.
In Nordic folklore, the kraken haunted the seas around Norway, Iceland, and Greenland. Sailors often told stories about how the beast could wrap its tentacles around a ship and pull it under while swallowing the ship’s crew whole.
But was there ever a real kraken?
The closest creature to a kraken we know of was discovered in 1853. That year a giant squid
was found on a beach in Denmark.
Ancient sailors were often terrified that a giant kraken or other sea monster might destroy their ships while at sea. The dead creature proved that what ancient sailors had seen while at sea was likely an enormous squid or octopus. However, the legend of the kraken still captures people’s imaginations today.
Much like the kraken, the sea serpent has its roots in ancient mythology. Some legends describe it as being like a dragon. In other tales the beast resembles a giant snake living in the ocean depths.
But what were sailors truly seeing?
Legends about sea serpents have been around for hundreds of years. But no animal has ever been captured to prove its existence. The sea creature most likely mistaken for sea serpents is the oarfish.
Oarfish are huge fish with long, snakelike bodies. They can grow to more than 50 feet (15 m) long. They usually live deep in the ocean. Oarfish are rarely seen, and little is known about them. But with their long, curving bodies, it’s easy to see how they might be thought of as sea serpents.
The megalodon was the largest shark to ever roam the ocean. The kraken and sea serpent have their roots in mythology. But the megalodon was a real animal that lived millions of years ago.
The only megalodon fossils found are of the beast’s teeth. They are prized among fossil hunters for their jagged edges and enormous size.
Most megalodon teeth are dated between 15.9 million and 2.6 million years ago. Scientists aren’t sure exactly when the megalodon became extinct. But by studying the beast’s teeth, they believe the shark could grow up to an amazing 80 feet (24 m) long!
When it comes to ancient sea monsters, even the mighty kraken would likely not survive an encounter with the giant megalodon!
Can You Catch the Kraken? Page 4