Maryland designates the prehistoric megalodon as its official state shark
Maryland lawmakers voted to designate the massive, prehistoric megalodon as the state's official shark. The passed legislation makes Maryland the first state to name an official shark.
The megalodon is an extinct species of shark, with its teeth roughly the size of a human head. Those teeth can be found as fossils in the Chesapeake Bay around the shores of Calvert Cliffs in Calvert County.
Experts say the largest of the megalodons were up to 80 feet long.
"It lived here in Maryland for at least 15 million years," said Steven Godrey, who is the Curator of Paleontology at the Calvert Marine Museum. "That's a really impressive track record, that's an awesome run, because they're extinct, which should diminish the fact that they are this amazing icon."
Del. Todd Morgan, one of the bill's sponsors, posted on social media an A.I. image of him riding a shark, saying, "Happy to say megalodon is heading to the governor's desk for signature."
Megalodons in Maryland
The megalodon was once the most fearsome predator in the ocean, living roughly 23 to 3.6 million years ago, according to the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.
Experts say the megalodon was the largest shark to ever roam the oceans, measuring about three times the length of a modern-day great white shark.
Steven Godfrey, the Curator of Paleontology at the Calvert Marine Museum, said that Maryland played a big role in the megalodon's existence.
Millions of years ago, the stretch of land along the Calvert Cliffs in Maryland was the ocean. However, Godfrey said the sea levels dropped, and the cliffs became exposed.
"15 million years ago, we're standing on the bottom of the ocean, the ocean would have been above us," Godfrey previously told CBS News Baltimore. "Over 650 kinds of organisms that are found in these sediments they are living in the sediments and the ocean above us."
The Calvert Cliffs State Park in Calvert County, Maryland, is a popular spot to find all sorts of shark teeth, even from the megalodon, which at one time ruled the waters.
"These sharks would have been absolutely ruthless in their predatory habits," Godfrey said. "There was no compassion, no kindness, no gentleness, no weakness— they were just going in for the kill."
Searching for megalodon teeth in Maryland
The megalodon's history and findings in Maryland have intrigued Maryland lawmakers to pass the bill to make it the state's official shark.
Emily Byzdyk told CBS News Baltimore she walks for miles along the beach at Calvert Cliffs, searching for megalodon fossils. She has come across the mighty teeth, calling it "pure adrenaline."
"It's the biggest shark, so there's just something about it," Byzdyk added. "This is like the biggest predator that was out here."
In 2023, 9-year-old Molly Sampson found an ancient megalodon tooth as big as her hand while searching in about 10-degree weather.
Godfrey confirmed that the shark tooth belonged to the Otodus megalodon, which had been "one of the largest, if not the largest marine macropredator the world has ever known."
Sampson's mother said reaching into the frigid water was worth it when they pulled out the megalodon's tooth.
"The look on her face is the only thing that makes me regret not going with them because I can't even imagine the shriek that came from her mouth," said Alicia Sampson, the girl's mother.
