The Baltimore Oriole, the White Oak, the Chesapeake Bay Retriever and the Black-Eyed Susan — while these plants and animals may seem like they don’t have much in common, they’re all state symbols of Maryland, meant to reflect its unique wildlife and local culture. While many of Maryland’s state symbols have been part of its identity for decades, they’ve recently been joined by an unexpected new member: the megalodon, Maryland’s new state shark.
The designation of this extinct giant shark is an unprecedented move, as Maryland is now the first and only state to have a state shark. The legislation that codified this new state symbol was approved April 13 by the Maryland Senate and House of Delegates and was officially signed into law May 12.
It’s a major moment for Maryland’s paleontological community, who have devoted years to chronicling and studying the megalodon’s impact on the Chesapeake Bay area.
“About half the state of Maryland was under the Atlantic Ocean for millions of years, which was the heyday for megalodon,” says Stephen Godfrey, curator of paleontology at the Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons, which serves as Maryland’s state paleontology center.
As a result, fossilized megalodon teeth and animal bones with megalodon bite markings have been found in the area over the years. Hunting for fossils is a popular pastime for visitors to Calvert Cliffs State Park, where many of these fossilized teeth have been uncovered.
Godfrey played a key role in getting the megalodon designated as Maryland’s state shark. The idea came from a conversation with John Nance, the museum’s paleo collections manager. While Maryland has had a state dinosaur (the Astrodon johnstoni) and a state fossil (the Ecphora gardnerae) since the 1990s, the megalodon had never been officially recognized as a state symbol.
Megalodons were not exclusive to Maryland, living in tropical waters all over the world. North Carolina had already designated the megalodon tooth as its own state fossil in 2013, but the shark itself was up for grabs. Godfrey later met with Sen. Jack Bailey (R-Calvert and St. Mary’s) and Del. Todd Morgan (R-Calvert and St. Mary’s), who introduced the legislation to the Senate and House, respectively.
Godfrey testified twice in support of the legislation, with the hope that designating a state shark would educate people about the important role sharks play in marine ecosystems.
“Sharks are a keystone species, like honeybees are,” Godfrey explains. “If we didn’t have honeybees, the effects [of them being gone] would be immediate. Sharks serve a similar purpose in regulating and maintaining equilibrium in the marine environment, since they’re at the top of the food chain. They help to maintain stability within everything below them and increase biodiversity by preventing any one species from becoming too widespread or too dominant.”
Other supporters of the push to recognize the megalodon as Maryland’s state shark included members of the Natural History Society of Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, as well as several Calvert County officials, local educators and their students.
The legislation stalled for a time in the General Assembly, but was later amended to SB 0035, which also designated The Natural History Society of Maryland as the state natural sciences museum, and was approved.
Morgan celebrated by posting an AI-generated image of him riding a shark on social media and stating, “Happy to say megalodon is heading to the governor’s desk for signature.”
Initially, the megalodon faced some pushback from Green Party gubernatorial candidate Andy Ellis, who questioned why the distinction should be given to an extinct species rather than one of the many types of sharks that still live in the Chesapeake Bay. But Godfrey says that recognizing the megalodon comes with a humbling lesson.
“It’s not the strongest, fastest or smartest organisms that survive, it’s those that are most capable of adapting to change,” Godfrey says. “For some reason, the megalodon was not able to adapt to change, which is why they went extinct. That should foster some humility in humans. We think we’ve got it all figured out, and we’re the smartest and most influential [species] on Earth, but our intelligence doesn’t guarantee our survival.”
Locals can learn more about the megalodon at the Calvert Marine Museum’s annual SHARKFEST event on Saturday, July 11, where they can explore the museum’s three megalodon-focused displays and take part in shark-themed activities.
