On the 13th of March 2004 the first known sighting was made by a Dutch couple who own a dive centre at Gapang Beach on Pulau Weh. The couple spent many years diving in Indonesia and came across the island whilst backpacking throughout the region. The specimen washed ashore and after some confusion and was later identified; this was the second to be recorded in Indonesia and only the 21st to date worldwide. An earlier sighting was made in Manado, North Sulawesi but it rapidly swam off before any photos could be taken. On the 8th of September 2005 there was another sighting around Pulau Weh on a deep wreck dive on the Sophie Rickmer. At 50m a pair of Lumba Lumba Divemasters watched as it passed before descending into the deep. Unfortunately neither diver’s had a camera to record this rare occurrence.

Very little is known about the migratory habits of the mega mouth although it is known from Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, the distribution of sightings are more common in territories between Indonesia and Japan and also on the western coast of America. Typical characteristics include a blackish brown coloration, a wide purplish tongue with a silvery tinge on both sides and of course a bulbous head from which it gets its name.

Diving in Indonesia has long been known to offer the rarest of encounters, and even if you don’t make it to be one of the lucky few to spot a mega mouth the island of Pulau Weh is surely worth a visit.