Nigel walked along the Miocene beach as he talked to the cameraman. "My adventures through prehistory have taken me back to so many different time zone. Just to recap, I went back 449 million years ago to ride an Orthocone and tussle with those Sea scorpions." Nigel explained. "My second adventure was in the Devonian about 360 million years with that fearsome Dunkleosteus."

"My third adventure took me back 210 million years ago to see the bizarre marine reptiles of the Triassic. Nigel continued. "It was where I had a close encounter with a hungry Cymbospondylus, a primitive type of the ichthyosaur. After that, we went to the Jurassic about 155 million years ago where we witnessed a Pliosaur feeding frenzy. Then there was the adventure in the Cretaceous about 84 million years ago where I rode on the back of a Protostega."

"That was really fun but it did get pretty scary with that Xiphactinus swimming around the turtle. And if that wasn't enough we encountered a Tylosaurus." Nigel explained. "Our latest adventure, we went back 35 million years ago where we saw a Basilosaurus which tried to steal our speaker. But we managed to get it back, it took a while though."

"We had to wait for him to drop it before we could pick it up." Nigel told the cameraman. "And now here we are the last of the deadliest seas of all time. Let's see what this one has in store for us."

Miocene

Time : 5 Million years ago

Hazards : Megalodon, crocodiles, predatory whales.

"We're in Peru. Right on the rim of the Pacific Ocean." Nigel explained. "And living out there is something terrifying. So if you're afraid of sharks, you'll be a gibbering wreck when you see what we're about to try next."

Nigel picks up a set of teeth. "Look, the most famous jaws in history." Nigel tells the cameraman. "The Great white shark. I've been in the water with them in the open ocean."

"But even Great white was small fry in comparison to the prehistoric shark, I'm hoping to meet." Nigel explains as he steps through a much larger set of teeth. "Megalodon, the biggest carnivorous fish that has ever lived. That name Megalodon means Big Tooth and I don't think that I need to explain why."

Soon something else catches Nigel's attention on the beach. There was a group of large bird picking away at the flesh of a dead whale. "I adore birds, so it is a real joy to be able to see these creatures called Pelagornis." Nigel points out to the cameraman as the birds fed on the whale carcass.

"These birds here have one of the largest wingspans of any bird." Nigel mentioned. "Despite looking more like a prehistoric albatross or skua. Pelagornis was actually a relative to Pelicans and storks. One of the stranger things about these birds is that they have teeth."

"Pelagornis and Megalodon aren't the only creatures that live around here either. Humpback whales were also alive at this time, like this dead individual here." Nigel mentions to the cameraman. "But in addition to these creatures there were plenty of dangerous predators that inhabited the waters of Peru at this time. There were coastal crocodiles that patrolled the coasts around here called Piscogavialis."

"There were also predatory whales called Acrophyseter which swam around this area in packs just like today's Killer whales. But these were related to the Sperm whales that we know today but smaller, around the size of a Great white shark."

"And the one that ruled these waters was the Megalodon. There was another huge shark around at this time but was only slightly smaller than the larger Megalodon." Nigel explained. "Despite many comparisons to Great whites, Megalodon was actually part of a different group of shark species which have no living relatives called Otodontidae."

After explaining to the cameraman about the predators of the Miocene, Nigel heads back onto the Ancient Mariner. By hunting a Megalodon, they were getting into ever more dangerous waters. And caution had started to creep in amongst the crew.

There was disagreement about their next course of action. "I think we should head into deeper water to look for the adults." Nigel mentioned to the crew. "No, I think we should start with the juveniles." Jerry replied. 

"I agree with Jerry." Don replied back. "I think we should get to the small ones first." They couldn't be sure how Megalodon would behave. Some argued that it would be worth studying smaller safer juveniles before risking a dive with an adult. In the end, Nigel agreed with the crew.

"I'll do one dive with the juveniles." Nigel told them. 'And then I think we ought to head off into the drop off to try and find the adults." The good part about diving with the juveniles was that they wouldn't be too far away from where the crew is right now.

With sharks it's all about diving in the right place. Like most other shark species, juvenile Megalodons tend to be in shallow water away from the adults. Partly for their own safety, but also because they prey on different things than the adults. There shouldn't be any adults on this dive.

The crew found a good place, while Nigel and Mike were getting ready. When they were done, Nigel and Mike plunged into the water.

It was a glorious sight underwater. Nigel and Mike swam through the kelp forest. "I'm hugging the kelp here." Nigel mentions. "I don't want to be caught out in open water with these big predators around. Luckily they don't like going into these dense kelp forest."

"The other thing is that I'm hoping to find some of the creatures that juvenile Megalodon prey on." Nigel tells the cameraman. "And they are the oddest of creatures."

Nigel swam through the kelp forest where he noticed a large creature swimming over him. It resembled a seal. "Look at that up there." Nigel pointed out. "This is prehistoric seal known as Acrophoca, sometimes called the swan necked seal."

"It is believed to be a relative of modern day leopard seals but this animal seems to have more in common with Monk seals." Nigel mentions. "These animals would have mostly eaten fish rather than penguins like the Leopard seals in Antarctica."

The Acrophoca approaches Nigel with curiosity. "Well hello there." Nigel said to the prehistoric seal. The Acrophoca continued to follow Nigel out of curiosity. Nigel and the cameraman would be the first ever humans that this Acrophoca would see.

Nigel spots another kind of animal covered in algae. It looked like a land animal except it wasn't. "This is a bizarre creature." Nigel mentions. "I've heard of these creatures before, they're called Thalassocnus. A species of aquatic ground sloth."

"Ground sloths first appeared around 35 million years ago and will be around until the extinction of the big Megafauna around 10,000 years ago." Nigel explains while the sloths forage. "But Thalassocnus was one of the only ones known that took to the sea instead of remaining on the land."

"But how can this animal remain at the bottom of the water?" Nigel mentions. "Well that's because it has thick dense bone to help the animal combat buoyancy, that way it could sink to the seafloor where it feeds on seaweed and seagrass. These are creatures are kind of like modern day manatees and have filled the same role as them."

After that they left the Thalassocnus alone. There they noticed another kind of animal that looked like a porpoise but with the tusks of a walrus.

"There, Odobenocetops leptodon." Nigel said pointing at the bizarre looking creature. "That name is a mix of Greek and Latin and it means the whale that walks on its teeth."

"And if it turns towards us you can see why." Nigel told the cameraman while the Odobenocetops forages. "One tusk is about a foot long but on the right hand side, look at that. It's about 3 feet long and the males probably used those for jousting with other males in the breeding season just like Narwhals."

"What a fantastic creature Nigel said to the cameraman. But what they didn't realize was that something was swimming towards their location.

"Flipping heck look!" Nigel exclaimed before he and the cameraman ducked into the kelp. A shark larger than a car swam past them, scaring off the Odobenocetops. This was a juvenile Megalodon.

"I can't take my eyes of that." Nigel said as he looks up from out the kelp to see the young shark swimming around them. "The biggest Great white shark ever was around six meters but that thing. It must be around 3 years old and already it is about 8 meters and it's that size already."

Just imagine diving with a fully grown Megalodon. What had Nigel let himself in for? They've seen a juvenile Megalodon but they haven't learned much about it yet. Nigel wanted to see how they hunted and they couldn't just wait around for and attack to happen. They needed to make it happen.

After watching the juvenile Megalodon for a little bit, Nigel decided that it was time to head back to the boat. But while he was heading back, he noticed a crocodile swimming around. Nigel went back into the kelp.

"There's another one of the predators around here. This is that crocodile I mentioned earlier, Piscogavialis." Nigel told the cameraman as the reptile swam around the kelp forest. "Piscogavialis is only known from a skull. If they're anything like Gharials, they usually prey on fish but they can very unpredictable so we really got to watch where we're going."

Nigel and the cameraman snuck past the Piscogavialis and they climbed back onto the ship. "Hey Nigel, how was your dive?" Sandra asked him.

"Quite the experience, we encountered a juvenile Megalodon." He replied back. "We also had a run in with one of those prehistoric crocodiles while we were heading back too."

"So know that you've seen a juvenile Megalodon, do you plan on heading out to deeper water?" Finn asked Nigel. "Not yet, we've seen the juvenile Megalodon but I what I'd like to see is how they hunt." He replied back. "That's why I've come back to the Ancient Mariner I want to ask Gil something. I'd also like for you to come with me, this is something that I'm hoping you both can do."

"Okay Nigel, he's inside." Don told him." "Thank you Don." Nigel replied back.

Nigel went inside where Gil was talking with Jerry. "Excuse me guys. Sorry to interrupt." Nigel said to them. "Yes, what is it Nigel?" Jerry asked.

"I'd like to speak with Gil." Nigel replied. "Okay, what is it?" Gil answered.

Nigel told Finn and Gil what he wants to do. His plan is for them to create a decoy that resembles an Odobenocetops. Finn and Gil agreed with it and started crafting the decoy with Nigel's guidance.

"This Odobenocetops. It wouldn't fool you or I." Nigel told the cameraman. "But hopefully as a decoy it will fool the juvenile Megalodon. And it will enable us to learn a bit more about them."

Gil took the decoy with him out in the speedboat. He threw it into the water, while Finn held it by a string. The dummy didn't swim as well as an Odobenocetops but the young sharks didn't seem to be put off by that.

However another creature took notice of the dummy and started to follow it. It resembled a dolphin but it was much bulkier. It bumped the dummy before losing interest in it.

"Look over there. I'm pretty sure I know what that is that bumped the dummy." Nigel pointed out. "That must be an Acrophyseter. "I got to check that out after Finn and Gil are finished with the speedboat."

After just 15 minutes, the onboard camera got the shock of its life. The juvenile Megalodon came swimming towards the decoy and took a huge bite. 

"Look at what's happened to the decoy." Nigel mentions as Finn and Gil lifted the decoy out of the speedboat.

"Did it hit it from below?" Nigel asked. "Straight up from underneath." Gil told him.

"You can see the damage done here. It seems that Megalodon has the same hunting techniques as Great white sharks." Nigel told him. "What they do, they can't afford to be injured by their prey, they sneak up from below and make a devastating attack. And the power of that big fish smashed the decoy."

"But if this was a real animal, it would bleed to death. Then the shark would come in when it was really weak and make the final cue to grab." Nigel explained to the cameraman. Megalodon, while they weren't necessarily related to great whites. The crew now had an idea that the juveniles attacked their prey in a very similar way.

Before heading out to deeper water, Nigel asked if Gil could take him out on the speedboat. There was one more animal in the kelp forest Nigel wanted to see.

Nigel used the periscope to look under the water where he saw a small group of those whales he saw following the dummy. "Just as I thought. The creature that was around the decoy was an Acrophyseter."

"As I mentioned earlier, Acrophyseter is a relative to the sperm whales that we know today." Nigel explained as he watched the pod swimming around. "But these animals were probably more hostile than their larger cousins which would appear later in the Pliocene. They would even prey on juvenile Megalodon by working together as a group."

Nigel and Gil went back to the Ancient Mariner in the speed boat. Now it was time to head out to deeper water. They wanted to find out about the adults. How did these sharks hunt?

And what exactly did an 18 meter shark prey on? Leaving the juveniles and the hosts of other bizarre prehistoric sea animals behind, they took their boat a few miles off shore. It was time to meet a monster.

They found a suitable area to stop the boat. "Drop the Anchor!" Don called out to Gil. "Yes sir." Gil replied.

Now the crew was chopping up dead fish. "Anyone who's gotten close to sharks knows this eye watering stench." Nigel explained to the cameraman. "It's the smell of chum, that's a mix of fish blood, fish oil, and bits of fish pieces. What we are going to do is throw that over the side."

"There will be a trail of odor which go for miles in the current. And a Megalodon will smell that and start zig zagging towards the boat." Nigel told him. "When it get's close we've got this amazing delicacy for it. A great big bag of fish chunks and that should entice it and keep it around the boat."

"And if they do come, what we got here is Shark Cam. There is a little camera inside this." Nigel said. "We want to get an insight into the world of the Megalodon. I've got to get close enough to attach this to the base of the massive dorsal fin of a Megalodon. I won't hurt the shark, this will dissolve in a couple of days, the camera will pop up to the surface and then we'll find it and hopefully get some insight into the behavior of the wild Megalodon."

"Hey Nigel come check these out." Sandra called out to him. "Yes, what is it?" He replied.

"There's a couple of whales swimming next to the boat." Sandra told him. "But they're quite small. I mean they're larger than us that's for sure. But they're still quite small for a whale. Do you know what these are?"

"I'm pretty sure these are Piscobalaena." Nigel told her. "They are part of a group of baleen whales called Cetotheriidae. There is only one member of this family still alive and that's the Pygmy right whale. The rest of them have gone extinct, but the key thing here is that they're prey items for Megalodon so where there's Piscobalaena, a Megalodon probably isn't too far away."

"But we also have to be on the lookout for Acrophyseter too." Nigel mentioned. "Acrophyseter don't just live around the kelp forests. Pack could also be out here in deeper water too. And they may be attracted to the fish pieces going into the water. They will also hunt Piscobalaena too which means where the Piscobalaena are, the Acrophyseter will be around too."

The crew continued to pour chum into the water. Nigel and Jerry looked out into the horizon. They were watching out for that giant fin. That would tell them that the Megalodon wasn't too far away.

"I see something over to the left." Don told the crew. "You sure?" Gil asked him." 

"I'm pretty certain." Don replied. "Nigel, come check is out." Sandra told him.

They saw the largest fin of any shark swimming through the water in the distance. The Megalodon was coming. Nigel came over to see what was going on. Then he saw the fin.

"Look at that thing." Nigel told the cameraman. "It can't be anything else but an adult Megalodon. It's more like a sail more than it is a fin. But what we've got to do now is get the cage in the water."

The cage, the last time they ever used it was in the Devonian. They needed it to keep themselves safe from the Dunkleosteus. Now, Nigel and Mike needed it again to keep themselves safe from the Megalodon.

While Nigel and Mike were getting ready, the crew got the cage into the water. Now it was time to throw the bag of fish chunks into the water. Don and Gil tossed it into the water. They had it on a rope to make sure that the Megalodon or any other animal didn't try to eat it until Nigel got the Shark Cam onto the shark.

Nigel gave the thumbs up before he and the cameraman went into the cage. Finn dumped another bucket of chum into the water. Sandra and Jerry would keep and eye on the Megalodon. Sandra had the Acoustic tracking device which was now picking up the Megalodon, while Jerry kept an eye on it outdoors with the binoculars.

Don and Gil were in charge of the chum bag. Without it, the Megalodon would have no reason to stick around. "You can see the blood and the fish oil leaking out of the chum bag. I need to be really prepared for this with the camera." Nigel told the cameraman.

"We only have one chance at it, who knows how long the Megalodon's going to hang around." Nigel told him. "Of the adventures I've had through the seven deadliest seas, this one has to be the most unsettling, only the adventure in the Cretaceous sea comes close. This is pretty scary, being in a shark cage waiting for a massive shark to come around the boat."

Some Acrophyseters were circling around the boat. They were after the chum bag. However the whales could pick up something in the distance. They knew better than to stick around and the pack swam