Sharks have always fascinated humans. They have their own week on TV, their own UCLA news releases and their own movie franchises — from the critically acclaimed “Jaws” to the comically deranged “Sharknado” series.
Of course, the queen mother of all sharks was the mighty, 50-ton megalodon, which also happens to be the star of this week’s theatrical release, “The Meg 2: The Trench.” Not bad for a species that went extinct 3.6 million years ago. (Looks like someone’s had work done.)
To celebrate the new film, we reached out to De’Marcus Robinson, a UCLA doctoral candidate in atmospheric and oceanic sciences and founder of the nonprofit BehindTheSTEAHM. Robinson researches microbial dynamics in the Santa Barbara Basin, but he agreed to apply his considerable expertise to our considerably silly questions about megalodons.
In the fourth installment of the UCLA College video series “Silly Questions, Smart Bruins,” Robinson imagines what he would do if he bumped into a megalodon while scuba diving and how their reemergence into the world would impact deep-sea science — and he draws an unexpected connection to Megan Thee Stallion.
(Watch the first, second and third installments of “Silly Questions, Smart Bruins.”)
De’Marcus Robinson before a submarine dive intended to investigate the microbial mat and the cycling of nutrients in the Santa Barbara Basin.
