One crisp morning in Gansbaai, Hanna the young marine biologist from White Shark Projects boarded the Shark Team boat with a special beach find—a fossilized shark tooth, supposedly from the ancient Otodus megalodon. Who better to confirm than Bruce, the legendary white shark?
“Bruce! I have something to show you!” She called. His familiar dorsal fin appeared, and soon he was spy-hopping beside the boat. Holding up the tooth, she asked, “Could this be from one of your ancestors?”
Bruce’s eyes widened. “That’s history! But no, megalodons weren’t our ancestors—just distant cousins. My lineage traces back to Carcharodon hastalis, not Otodus megalodon.”
Surprised, she listened as Bruce explained. While megalodons were ocean giants, ruling with serrated teeth and crushing jaws, their downfall came with climate change and food scarcity. Great whites, smaller yet adaptable, survived.
“So, this tooth isn’t from your family—just your neighbor’s?” She joked.
Bruce gave a playful splash. “Exactly.”
As he disappeared into the deep, the fossil in her hand felt heavier—not just with age, but with the story it carried.