How fast can a mako swim? As of November 2026, the shortfin mako is considered the fastest shark in the world. Scientists think it can swim faster than any other shark or ray. Yet few direct speed measurements have been reported. To know a speed, someone has to measure it.

In a 2023 study, tags worn by two free-swimming makos measured their swimming speed directly. The tags gave scientists a number from the sea itself.

First, the cruising speed. The two makos cruised at an average speed of 0.90 metres per second. That is a little less than one metre each second.

Then, the burst. The fastest burst the tags recorded was 5.02 metres per second. It came from a female mako 2 metres long.

Why can a mako swim so well? It keeps its body warmer than the water around it. A web of blood vessels holds in the heat. Its tail does almost all the work of pushing it through the water. A mako must also keep swimming to move water over its gills so it can breathe.

Other tags show where makos go. Scientists tagged 105 makos over 12 years, from 2002 to 2014, off the US West Coast. Some travelled nearly 12,000 miles in a year. Tagged makos went as far north as Washington, as far south as Baja California, and as far west as Hawaii.

Larger tagged makos off California travelled about 20 miles a day on average. On their best day they went up to about 90 miles.

Makos tagged off California came back to the same offshore areas year after year. Waters off Southern California are a nursery area, and tagged makos returned there each year, most often in summer.

Words to know

• tags: tracking devices
• burst: quick sprint
• cruising: steady swimming
• nursery: place for young