Porbeagle
Lamna nasus
Size, compared with you
You: 1.7 m. Porbeagle: 3 m.
Bigger than a car. Grows up to about 3 m.
A stout shark of cool seas, related to great whites and makos, with a white patch at the back of its first fin. It lives in the North Atlantic, the Southern Hemisphere, and the Mediterranean.
The weird bit
A porbeagle keeps its body core about 8 to 10 degrees warmer than the water around it, which is a big help in cold seas.
Quick facts
- Where it lives
- Open ocean, Coast and shallows0 to 1,360 m down
- What it eats
- Mackerel, herring, cod and other bony fish, plus squid
- How worried are we?
- In trouble (Vulnerable)Assessed in 2018 by the IUCN Red List.