Shortfin mako
Isurus oxyrinchus
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Size, compared with you
You: 1.7 m. Shortfin mako: 4.5 m.
Bigger than a car. Grows up to about 4.5 m.
The fastest known shark, built like a torpedo. It roams warm and temperate oceans, hunting fast fish such as tuna.
The weird bit
The mako is the fastest shark known, measured at about 50 kilometres an hour, with reports of even faster bursts. It is also one of the few partly warm-blooded sharks, which helps its muscles work harder.
Quick facts
- Where it lives
- Open ocean, Coast and shallows
- What it eats
- Squid and fish such as mackerel and tuna, sometimes other sharks and dolphins
- How worried are we?
- In danger (Endangered)Assessed in 2018 by the IUCN Red List.