Distribution Table of Confirmed Megamouth Shark Sightings

Last updated: March 8, 2013

Number	Location	Date	Sex	Length	Disposition	Recorded Account/Photos	Scientific Publications
	Oahu, Hawaii U.S.	15 Nov 76	M	446 cm TL	Bernice P. Bishop Museum (Honolulu, Hawaii)	Article	Taylor, L. R., Compagno, L. J. V., and Struhsaker, P. J.
	Catalina Island, California U.S.	29 Nov 84	M	449 cm TL	Los Angeles County Museum (Los Angeles, California)		Lavenberg, R. J. and Seigel, J. A.
	Mandurah Australia	18 Aug 88	M	515 cm TL	Western Australia Museum	Photos	Berra, T. M. and Hutchins, J. B.
	Hamamatsu City Japan	23 Jan 89	M	400+ cm TL	Discarded		Nakaya, K.
5	Suruga Bay Japan	June 89	?	490 cm TL	Released alive		Miya, M., Hirosawa, M., and Mochizuki, K.
	Dana Point, California U.S.	21 Oct 90	M	494 cm TL	Tracked	Article	Lavenberg, R. J.
	Hakata Bay Japan	29 Nov 94	F	471 cm TL	Marine World (Fukuoka, Japan)	Photos	Castro, J. I., Clark, E., Yano, K., and Nakaya, K.
8	Dakar Senegal	4 May 95	?	180 (?) cm TL	Discarded		Séret, B.
	Southern Brazil	18 Sept 95	M	190 cm TL	Instituto de Pesca (São Paulo, Brazil)	Photos	Amorim, A. F., Arfeli, C. A. and Castro, J. I.
	Toba Japan	1 May 97	F	500+ cm TL	Toba Aquarium
	Cagayan de Oro Philippines	21 Feb 98	M	ca. 549 cm TL	Consumed	Photos	Amorim, A. F., Arfeli, C. A. and Castro, J. I.
12	Atawa, Mie Japan	23 April, 98	F	549 cm TL	Discarded		Amorim, A. F., Arfeli, C. A. and Castro, J. I.
	Manado, North Sulawesi Indonesia	30 August 98	?	ca. 5 m	Swam away	Article
	30 mi. W of San Diego, California U.S.	1 October 99	F	518 cm	Released	Article
	42 mi. NW of San Diego, California U.S.	19 Oct 01	M	548 cm	Released	Article
	East Indian Ocean (Lat. 02° 17.9' S Long. 088º 12.7' E)	18 Jan 02	M	235 cm	Discarded	Article
	Natures Valley near Plettenberg Bay, east of Cape Town South Africa	20 Apr 02	F	350 cm	Port Elizabeth Museum	Article
	Cagayan de Oro City Philippines	06 Jan 03	?	497 cm	Consumed	Article
19 (Unconfirmed)	Dana Point, California U.S.	26 May 03	?	610-760 cm	Released
	Hualien Province Taiwan	03 Jul 2003	M	~250 cm	Consumed	Article
	Omaezaki, Sizuoka Japan	7 Aug 03	M	430 cm	Tokai University (taxidermy)	Article
	Posorja Port, Guayas Ecuador	8 Mar 04	M	420 cm	Sent to market	Article
	Gapang Beach northern tip of Sumatra Indonesia	13 Mar 04	M	177 cm	Frozen (pending)	Article
	Tokyo Bay, Ikhihara City Japan	19 Apr 04	F	563 cm	Washed ashore dead	Article
	Off Ajiro, Shizuoka Japan	23 Apr 04	F	ca. 490 cm	Discarded	Article
	Barangay Namocon, Tigbauan, Iloilo Philippines	04 Nov 04	?	504 cm	Stranded on beach	Article
	Off Nishiki Kisei - cha Mie Japan	23 Jan 05	F	528 cm	Frozen (pending), Toba Aquarium	Article
	Cagayan de Oro Philippines	30 Jan 05	F?	417 cm	Caught by fisherman, buried	Article
29	Hualieng Eastern Taiwan	~25 Apr 05	?	? cm	Caught by fishermen, weighed 580 kg, sold for consumption	Article
30	Hualieng Eastern Taiwan	02 May 05	?	? cm	Caught by fishermen, weighed 580 kg, sold for consumption	Article
	Hualieng Eastern Taiwan	04 May 05	F	709 cm?	Dissection at Taipei Zoo/Academia Sinica	Article
	Hualieng Eastern Taiwan	05 May 05	F	? cm	Weighed 807 kilograms, Dissection at Taipei Zoo/Academia Sinica	Article
	Hualieng Eastern Taiwan	05 June 05	?	? cm	Weighed between 400-500 kilograms	Article
	Bayawan City Southern Oriental Negros Philippines	26 Jan 06	F	500 cm	Accidental capture by fishermen.Died before it could be set free.	Article
	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.	Article
	China Sea	23 May 06	?	470 cm	?	Article
	Sagami Bay, Yugawara (Kanagawa prefecture) Japan	2 May 06	F	570 cm	On display at Keikyu Aburatsubo Marine Park, in Kanagawa, Japan.	Article
	Tortugas Bay west coast of Baja California México	16 Nov 06	F	214.9 cm	On display at Regional Fisheries Center of Ensenada, located in Mexico.	Article
39	Phillipines	29 May 07	?	250 cm	Wounded nearshore, found alive with head wound, died after several hours; weighed 40-50 kg.	Article
	Sagami Bay, Japan	Jun 07	F	540 cm	This megamouth was found alive in a net. It was filmed, tagged, and released.	Article
	Japan	July 07	?	400 cm	This megamouth caught off the coast of Japan, weighed 450 kg.	Article
	Hinunangan, So. Lyete, Philippines	27 September 07	?	274 cm	This megamouth was found dead along the shores of Hinunangan.	Article
	off Taiwan	30 June 08	?	?	The only information on this megamouth capture is its weight (200 kg+) and capture date.	Article
	off Eastern Taiwan	10 July 08	?	500-550 cm?	5-5.5 meters in length judging from the photo taken of this specimen, and weighed 870 kg.	Article
45	Hinunangan, So. Lyete, Philippines	5 September 08	?	213 cm	This megamouth was reported stranded and alive on the shoreline and was pushed offshore, back into the water.	Article
	Philippines	31 March 09	M	400 cm?	This megamouth shark was sold for human consumption.	Article
	Taiwan	9 June 09	F	390 cm	This megamouth shark was sold to a local shark museum where it will be preserved and displayed.	Article
	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	9 July 09	M	539 cm	This megamouth was reported beached on the shoreline, appearing to have died of natural causes.	Article
	Benitos Islands, Mexico	6 Nov 09	?	200 cm	It is unclear what happened to this specimen.	Article
	Off southeastern China (Taiwan Straits)	25 April 10	M	~400 cm	It was donated to an educational facility or museum. The flesh was sold at market for consumption.	Article
	Off Eastern Taiwan	19 June 10	?	700 cm	The body was not intact however, the jaw was saved. The flesh was sold at market for consumption.	Article
	Sagami Bay, Japan	01 Jul 2011	F	300 cm	Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Natural History
	Sea of China	Jan 2012	?	565 cm	?
	Off Eastern Taiwan	16 Oct 2012	F	600 cm	The organs were preserved and donated to a university and the meat was sold.	Article

Go To Distribution Map of Confirmed Sightings of the Megamouth Shark

Go To Bibliography for the Above Sightings of the Megamouth Shark

Some of this information was kindly provided by:
Henry Mollet, John F. Morrissey, and a series of cooperators who reported on individual encounters.

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

For more information on megamouth sightings please check out Henry Mollet's website by clicking here