Distribution Table of Confirmed Megamouth Shark Sightings

Number	Location	Date	Sex	Length	Disposition
1	Oahu, Hawaii U.S.	15 Nov 76	M	446 cm TL	Bernice P. Bishop Museum (Honolulu, Hawaii)
2	Catalina Island, California U.S.	29 Nov 84	M	449 cm TL	Los Angeles County Museum (Los Angeles, California)
3	Mandurah Australia	18 Aug 88	M	515 cm TL	Western Australia Museum
4	Hamamatsu City Japan	23 Jan 89	M	400+ cm TL	discarded
5	Suruga Bay Japan	June 89	?	490 cm TL	released alive
6	Dana Point, California U.S.	21 Oct 90	M	494 cm TL	tracked
7	Hakata Bay Japan	29 Nov 94	F	471 cm TL	Marine World (Fukuoka, Japan)
8	Dakar Senegal	4 May 95	?	180 (?) cm TL	discarded
9	Southern Brazil	18 Sept 95	M	190 cm TL	Instituto de Pesca (São Paulo, Brazil)
10	Toba Japan	1 May 97	F	500+ cm TL	Toba Aquarium
11	Cagayan de Oro Philippines	21 Feb 98	M	ca. 549 cm TL	consumed
12	Atawa, Mie Japan	23 April, 98	F	549 cm TL	discarded
13	Manado, North Sulawesi Indonesia	30 August 98	?	ca. 5 m	swam away
14	30 mi. W of San Diego, California U.S.	1 October 99	F	17 ft.	released
15	42 mi. NW of San Diego, California U.S.	19 Oct 01	M	18 ft.	released
16	East Indian Ocean (Lat. 02° 17.9' S Long. 088º 12.7' E)	18 Jan 02	M	235 cm	discarded
17	Natures Valley near Plettenberg Bay, approximately 400 km east of Cape Town South Africa	20 Apr 02	F	350 cm	Port Elizabeth Museum
18	Cagayan de Oro City Philippines	06 Jan 03	?	497 cm	consumed
19 (Unconfirmed)	Dana Point, California U.S.	26 May 03	?	610-760 cm	released
20	Hualien Province Taiwan	03 Jul 2003	M	~250 cm	consumed
21	Omaezaki, Sizuoka Japan	7 Aug 03	M	430 cm	Tokai University (taxidermy)
22	Posorja Port, Guayas Ecuador	8 Mar 04	M	420 cm	sent to market
23	Gapang Beach northern tip of Sumatra Indonesia	13 Mar 04	M	177 cm	frozen (pending)
24	Tokyo Bay, Ikhihara City Japan	19 Apr 04	F	563 cm	washed ashore dead
25	Off Ajiro, Shizuoka Japan	23 Apr 04	F	ca. 490 cm	discarded
26	Barangay Namocon, Tigbauan, Iloilo Philippines	04 Nov 04	?	504 cm	stranded on beach
27	Off Nishiki Kisei - cha Mie Japan	23 Jan 05	F	528 cm	frozen (pending), Toba Aquarium
28	Cagayan de Oro Philippines	30 Jan 05	F?	417 cm	caught by fisherman, buried
29	Hualieng Eastern Taiwan	~25 Apr 05	?	? cm	caught by fishermen, weighed 580 kg, sold for consumption
30	Hualieng Eastern Taiwan	02 May 05	?	? cm	caught by fishermen, weighed 580 kg, sold for consumption
31	Hualieng Eastern Taiwan	04 May 05	F	709 cm?	weighed 689 kilograms, Dissection at Taipei Zoo/Academia Sinica
32	Hualieng Eastern Taiwan	05 May 05	F	? cm	weighed 807 kilograms, Dissection at Taipei Zoo/Academia Sinica
33	Hualieng Eastern Taiwan	05 June 05	?	? cm	weighed between 400-500 kilograms
34	Bayawan City Southern Oriental Negros Phillippines	26 Jan 06	F	500 cm	accidental capture by fishermen. Died before it could be set free.
35	Barra, Macabalan, Cagayan de Oro City Philippines	12 March 06	F	226 cm	accidental gill net capture by fishermen. Died before it could be set free.
36	China Sea	23 May 06	?	470 cm	?
37	Sagami Bay, Yugawara (Kanagawa prefecture) Japan	2 May 06	F	570 cm	found alive in a fixed shore net. A camera crew shot a film of it. Then it was pulled up but it was already dead. This specimen is to be put on display at Keikyu Aburatsubo Marine Park, located in Kanagawa, Japan.
38	Tortugas Bay west coast of Baja California México	16 Nov 06	F	214.9 cm	caught in a commercial shark gill net. This specimen is to be put on display at Regional Fisheries Center of Ensenada, located in Mexico.

Go To Distribution Map of Confirmed Sightings of the Megamouth Shark

Go To Reference List for the Above Sightings of the Megamouth Shark

Some of this information was kindly provided by:
Dr. John F. Morrissey

Persons having information on new or earlier-caught megamouth sharks are encouraged to contact George Burgess at gburgess@flmnh.ufl.edu