Have you ever thought about which are the fastest sharks in the world? Would you know what characteristics make some sharks faster than others?
Sharks are some of the largest predators in the ocean. They are enormous animals that can hunt prey even larger than themselves. Sometimes, they also need to catch smaller and more elusive prey. As the great hunters of the oceans, sharks have specifically shaped and highly hydrodynamic bodies, along with large and strong muscles.
Moreover, their fins have a strategic size and position, allowing them to reach high speeds, improve propulsion, optimize buoyancy, and minimize water resistance when moving. Just like divers!
What are the five fastest sharks in the world?
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MAKO Isurus oxyrinchus
The fastest shark in the world is the mako shark or shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus). It is a pelagic shark found in all oceans, from tropical to temperate zones, and prefers to live in deep waters. It has been recorded reaching speeds of over 100 km/h, making it an exceptional predator!
Known as the peregrines of the sea, they can reach up to 4 meters in length. Thanks to their powerful muscles and crescent-shaped tail fin, no other shark can match them in speed! Additionally, their skin is covered in denticles, a type of scale that reduces water resistance.
But that’s not all: mako sharks are also capable of leaping out of the water up to 8 meters in length.
These sharks have only one known predator, orcas, as other animals, even if they tried, wouldn’t be able to catch them!
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SALMON SHARK Lamna ditropis
The salmon shark, also known as the Pacific porbeagle (Lamna ditropis), is the second fastest shark on the planet, reaching speeds over 80 km/h.
Like the mako shark, the salmon shark has an aerodynamic body with a flattened tail and head, reducing water resistance when swimming. They hunt in packs, like wolves, and their incredible speed allows them to feed quickly and ferociously.
These sharks are robust and muscular, allowing them to swim faster with less energy. They have large caudal fins for propulsion and sharp dorsal and pectoral fins that grant them agility in the water, enabling quick turns and jumps while hunting.
Additionally, salmon sharks, like other large predators such as mako sharks and great whites, have endothermic bodies, helping them regulate their body temperature. This gives them a significant advantage, as they inhabit the extremely cold waters of the North Pacific. Their ability to pump warm blood to their muscles makes them much faster than their prey, which are slowed down by cold waters.
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BLUE SHARK Prionace glauca
The blue shark (Prionace glauca) is a cosmopolitan shark found in all the world’s oceans. In fact, it is considered the most widespread and abundant shark in the oceans. It is a migratory, pelagic species that prefers to live in deeper waters (up to 1,000 m) and in temperate seas.
Despite its small size, its fusiform and elongated body, with long and narrow fins and a compressed snout, allows it to reach attack speeds of over 50 km/h! Some records even show a small individual of about 0.6 m in length reaching 69 km/h!
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LONGFIN MAKO Isurus paucus
The longfin mako shark, also known as the black marlin or bigeye thresher (Isurus paucus), can reach speeds of 56 km/h. This subtropical species is endangered due to its low reproductive rate and risk of accidental capture.
Individuals typically measure 2.0 m but can reach up to 4 m. With a slimmer body and longer, wider pectoral fins, they cannot reach the same speeds as their close relatives, the shortfin makos.
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GREAT WHITE SHARK Carcharodon carcharias
The famous great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) is also among the fastest sharks in the world, reaching speeds of almost 60 km/h!
Not only is it the largest and most impressive hunter in the water, but it is also a great migrator, capable of swimming vast distances. For example, from Hawaii to California or from South Africa to Australia, completing some of the longest migrations recorded by any fish.
These massive sharks propel themselves with a crescent-shaped tail and large, thin pectoral and dorsal fins. Additionally, their movement is powered by the force of their great weight. They can also maintain warm blood in their bodies, keeping their muscles warm, which helps them swim faster. They are also capable of jumping out of the water up to 8 meters high.
Great white sharks attack with extreme energy, bursting forward and delivering a powerful bite, followed by a quick retreat to avoid injury. They then circle back, patiently waiting to see if the prey is incapacitated. If the prey is weak, the great white swiftly moves in for the final attack.
Their diet includes all kinds of species, from seals, fish, dolphins, porpoises, whales, and even turtles and seabirds.
THE SLOWEST SHARK: GREENLAND SHARK Somniosus microcephalus
The Greenland shark or boreal shark (Somniosus microcephalus) is the complete opposite of what we have seen so far: it is the slowest shark in the world, as its swimming speed is only 0.34 m/s, or 1.2 km/h. And that’s not all—its attack speed is not much higher: just 2.6 km/h! Because of this, it is also known as the “sleeper shark.” These incredibly slow-moving animals can grow up to nearly 7 meters long and weigh up to 900 kg.
But if they are so slow, how do they catch their prey? The most common prey of the Greenland shark is Arctic seals (Pusa hispida hispida), which, although faster than the shark, tend to sleep in the water to avoid attacks from their other predator, the polar bear. This allows Greenland sharks to ambush sleeping seals, as well as other marine mammals, fish, and squid. Despite being almost blind, they have an incredibly sensitive sense of smell, allowing them to detect prey from kilometers away.
Even though it is the slowest shark in the ocean, the Greenland shark does hold one remarkable title: it is the longest-living vertebrate in the world, with an average lifespan of around 272 years, and some individuals are estimated to live over 500 years.
THE FASTEST ANIMAL IN THE SEA
We have seen that some shark species can reach extremely high speeds, with the mako shark even exceeding 100 km/h.
However, this does not mean that the mako shark is the fastest animal in the sea. The fastest fish in the ocean, surpassing even the fastest sharks and marine mammals, is the black marlin (Istiompax indica). Also known as the Pacific sailfish because it is only found in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, it is believed to reach speeds of over 130 km/h!
This bony fish can grow even longer than the blue shark: up to 4.5 meters in length! They can also weigh more than 700 kg!
With these characteristics, can you imagine which predators target the black marlin? Here’s a hint: it’s a shark we’ve already mentioned in this blog! 😉
