Important find. Shark researcher Ben S. Roesch from Toronto, Ontario, Canada was the first to identify the shark as megamouth. In response to a photo sent by this writer, Roesch replied in an email: "The shark is, as you suspected, a megamouth (Megachasma pelagios). Needless to say, this is an important find as megamouths are rare." Roesch was 17 and studying in grade 11 in high school.

When told that this writer was also consulting the Shark Research Institute (SRI) of New Jersey, Roesch wrote back: "I am quite sure the SRI will also identify it as a megamouth. I'd bet anything on it! But I understand your need for confirmation." 

As expected, Marie Levine of SRI, who received three photos from this writer, wrote: "It sure looks like a megamouth shark to me. Will check with Dr. Leonard Compagno and get back to you soon." Levine wrote that Compagno is the Director of Science and Research of SRI and is "the world's leading shark taxonomist and author of the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] World Catalogue of Sharks." She added that Compagno could determine if the shark was a newly discovered species. 

No question. While waiting for Compagno's response, this writer received an email on March 19 from Dr. John F. Morrissey, Associate Professor of the Department of Biology in Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York. The complete text: "No question! That is megamouth #11! Congratulations!! If you obtain any additional information about the specimen or its capture, please let me know. I will inform the members of the American Elasmobranch Society [AES] about your exciting news! Thanks again for sharing it with me!" 

Morrissey was 1997 president of the AES and is one of the editors of the 1997 book "Biology of the Megamouth Shark". Morrissey had received three photos on the shark from this writer. 

Photo courtesy of Jim Bourdon.

First in the Philippines. Photos sent to Compagno returned to this writer apparently because of technical problems with the server. But on March 21, Compagno wrote back: "I received the three photographs via email. The photos appear to show a large megamouth shark (Megachasma pelagios). Apparently, this is the first recorded discovery of the species in the Philippines. If you have additional photos or other information about the size and sex of the shark, the details of its capture and what happened to it afterwards, please let me know." 

Compagno's email indicates his position as Curator of Fishes; Head, Shark Research Center, Division of Life Sciences, South African Museum, Cape Town, South Africa. 

Revised. On March 30, the Florida Museum of Natural History updated its online map and distribution table of megamouth sightings. These documents now mention the finding in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines. 

Little is known about the megamouth, but according to Lee Krystek in his Gallery of Cryptozoological Alumni (1996), "This extremely rare shark is harmless to humans. Its huge mouth is full of tiny teeth which are used to filter the water as the animal sucks in tiny shrimp and plankton that make up its diet. Two other members of the shark family, the basking shark and the whale shark, use the same feeding technique." 

A 1996 reference made by Melissa Kim of the University of Michigan contains a description of megamouth movement: "This shark behaves similarly to the fish of the deep scattering layer. It migrates vertically during a twenty-four hour cycle, swimming at depths of 200 meters below the surface by day, and ascending to 10-15 meters below the surface by night. It flees from minute disturbance into deep depths, which may explain why this species remained undiscovered for so long." 

A MYSTERIOUS FACT ABOUT THE MEGAMOUTH is that, according to the distribution table prepared by Morrissey, five of the first six megamouths found were males, the other being of unknown gender because it was discarded. So when the first female megamouth was discovered in 1994 in Fukuoka, Japan, an excited international team of scientists examined the carcass, resulting in the publication of "Biology of the Megamouth Shark". 

Despite this document and several research papers, interest in finding another female megamouth remains very high. Most shark experts consulted by this writer requested to be informed about the gender of the Philippine megamouth. When this writer asked Kazuhiro Nakaya, an Associate Professor of the Faculty of Fisheries of Hokkaido University, he explained: 

"One of our great interests is to discover an embryo in the uterus of the megamouth. But we have not found any in the two females. So, very little of the reproductive organs is known, and nothing is known about the reproductive biology of the megamouth shark ... If you find the female, you should keep the specimen. If not, keep the whole internal organs. You can throw the liver away, because of its enormous size, but keep the rest of the internal organs. Please bear this [advice] in mind, and watch for another megamouth. I will be happy to help you in this matter or with regards to other sharks in the Philippines."

Nakaya is also one of the editors of "Biology of the Megamouth Shark".  

How to identify the gender? "The male megamouth," according to Nakaya, "has a pair of claspers on inner side of pelvic fin, but the female has no clasper." George H. Burgess describes the claspers as "large modifications of the pelvic fins used as intromittent organs during copulation." He writes that these are all found on all male sharks. Burgess is the Director of the International Shark Attack File, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida.