THE STEVE ALTEN INTERVIEW
Q: What do you think, Steve, are Megalodon still out there?
STEVE ALTEN: I think it is still quite possible. The depths remain unexplored. Only a few weeks ago scientists discovered a ten-tentacled giant squid. You can't say Meg is extinct until we go down there and look.
Q: Who is best suited to search for it, laymen or scientists?
STEVE ALTEN: I'd say entrepreneurs. It is very costly to go into the abyss.
Q: Could you give a short description of what is happening in your novel, during the search for Megalodon, without revealing how it all ends?
STEVE ALTEN: When Jonas Taylor (the hero) enters the Mariana Trench, he discovers that warm layer along the bottom (created by hydrothermal vents) harbors all sorts of life, including Megalodon. One escapes, and the hunt is on to capture the shark. (There´s more to read and see at Steves website).
Q: How did you get the idea to write the book?
STEVE ALTEN: I've always enjoyed stories about great white sharks and Meg was the biggest, meanest of them all. After reading TIME magazine story about the Mariana Trench, I had my basic plot.
Q: Would you like to participate in an expedition to go and search for megalodon?
STEVE ALTEN: No thanks. Too scary to go down there. I'll add color commentary from dry land.
Q: Do you have any idea of what such an expedition would cost and how we best could finance it?
STEVE ALTEN: First you have to build a submersible that can withstand the pressure. The Japanese came close, but it was an unmanned sub.
Q: What is the first thing to do if one could prove that Megalodon still exist?
STEVE ALTEN: Take some photos, then leave it alone.
Will GUST really search for a possible Megalodon? Well, not in a near future at least but we´re probing the underwater community to see if it´s possible at all and will get back to this as soon as we have discussed it with them. Among other things I personally met and interviewed the French underwater explorer Dr. Jacques Piccard in 1985, when I ran a feature about him. Dr. Piccard has got both the knowledge and the sub to tackle a creature like Megalodon.