Did you know the fastest shark in the world can reach speeds of 70km per hour? Pretty impressive… <\/p>

The fastest shark in the world is the shortfin mako, capable of reaching speeds of more than 70km per hour (43 mph).<\/p>\n

Known as the peregrine of the sea, its predilection for swift swimming is a result of its torpedo-shaped body and powerful tail, which propels it through the water. Its skin is also covered in scales, known as denticles, that reduce drag. Adults have no known natural predators, which is just as well, as they\u2019d out swim them anyway.<\/p>\n

These speed machines can reach up to 445 cm in length\u00a0and can live for up to 30 years. They are found throughout the world\u2019s tropical and temperate oceans, from the Pacific and Indian to the Atlantic.<\/p>\n

How many species of shark inhabit the seas around Britain?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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They are often hunted for their meat and the IUCN Red List<\/a> <\/strong>has classed them as endangered<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n<section class=\""highlight\"> <div class=\""highlight__content\" editor-content=\"\"> \n<ul>\n<li><a href=\""https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/marine-animals\/great-white-shark-facts\/"\">How many teeth does a great white shark have?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><a href=\""https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/fish\/blue-shark-facts-size-diet-and-what-they-look-like\/"\">Blue shark facts: size, diet and what they look like<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><a href=\""https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/fish\/facts-about-basking-sharks\/"\">Basking shark guide: how big they are, what they eat, and why they\u2019re endangered<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><a href=\""https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/fish\/facts-about-whale-sharks\/"\">Whale shark guide: what they eat, where they\u2019re found and why they\u2019re endangered<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> <hr\/>\nMain image Shortfin mako \u00a9 Getty Images<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Did you know the fastest shark in the world can reach speeds of 70km per hour? Pretty impressive… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":28783,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/whats-the-fastest-shark-in-the-world.jpg",2121,1414,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/whats-the-fastest-shark-in-the-world-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/whats-the-fastest-shark-in-the-world-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/whats-the-fastest-shark-in-the-world-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/whats-the-fastest-shark-in-the-world-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/whats-the-fastest-shark-in-the-world-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/whats-the-fastest-shark-in-the-world-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Did you know the fastest shark in the world can reach speeds of 70km per hour? Pretty impressive...","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/28782"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}