Refuge for the Mako

The world’s fastest shark is on the fast track to extinction. The fate of the ocean’s “cheetah” may have just become a little bit brighter thanks to an international trade restriction.

While many would consider Michael Phelps to be the greatest Olympian to grace the water, he would be left in the wake of the shortfin mako shark. The 12-foot, 1,200 pound shark is capable of slicing through the water in bursts of speeds of 45 miles per hour and can cover 51 feet in a single second, numbers that would even blow past legendary sprinter Usain Bolt on a track. They are easily the fastest sharks and have rightfully earned their distinction as the “cheetahs” of the sea. But some of the adaptations that help propel it to incredible speeds have also put the ocean’s most graceful hunter in peril.

If the great white shark is the luxury SUV of the shark world, the mako shark is the high-end sports car thanks to a sleek and efficient design. The slender shark’s pointed snout helps it shoot through the water like a torpedo. Its smooth and powerful tale stroke is the efficient engine that helps the shark maintain high speeds. The mako’s muscles are adapted to take in oxygen twice as fast as other sharks, helping it recover in time to quickly take off again. Makos also trap heat better than most sharks, keeping their internal organs warm and ready to perform. This is especially useful when chasing prey in colder waters.

Moreover, the mako also has well-adapted fins to help it reach dizzying speeds in the water. Their crescent-shaped tail propels it forward with less resistance compared to other sharks. The shark’s pectoral fins are ultimately the difference between a fast mako and a slow one. The shortfin mako is named for its relatively shorter fins compared with the world’s other species of mako, the aptly named longfin mako. The longfin mako’s pectoral fins are sometimes longer than their head and jut out of their slender bodies, creating drag and slowing them down as shortfin makos speed by thanks to their compact fins.

These fins have unfortunately started to compromise both species of makos. The elusive speed demons are found throughout the world’s open oceans, landing them outside any one nation’s jurisdiction in the high seas. This has led to years of over-harvesting the explosive swimmers for their fins and meat (supposedly the tastiest of all sharks). Their fins, like the fins of so many other species of sharks, often find their way into shark fin soup in China. To make matters worse, the sharks are often accidentally caught as bycatch along with their prey of yellowfin tuna and schooling fish. Add in the fact that these sharks are slow breeders and makos seem to be swimming straight into the jaws of extinction.

But both species of makos received some hope this weekend thanks to a successful proposal to increase trade restrictions for the speedy sharks at the Global Wildlife Trade Summit in Geneva. Despite opposition from Japan, Canada and sadly the United States, all of whom have large mako fisheries, the proposal was adopted 102 votes to 40.

Both species will be moved to Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). CITES is the preeminent global treaty dealing with the trade of endangered species and a placement on Appendix II means that the shark will no longer be fished unless data is found suggesting that their population is no longer endangered.

This could not have come at a better time for the lighting-quick sharks. Conservationists feared the global mako population was on the precipice of collapse, with both species recently being listed as endangered. Shortfins, in particular, have experienced up to an 80% decline in the Mediterranean over the last 75 years alone. Similar to most species of sharks, their numbers are rapidly declining all over the world. Over 100 million sharks are killed each year, many for only their fins as the rest of their carcass is either left to rot or thrown back into the ocean. Steps like the new CITES listing are encouraging, but the ocean’s greatest athletes cannot out-swim extinction on their own.

All photographs and art by Jack Tamisiea.

To learn more about our oceans’ incredible creatures check out The Abyss series.

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Sources:

https://phys.org/news/2019-08-cites-votes-endangered-otters.html

https://oceana.org/marine-life/sharks-rays/longfin-mako-shark

https://oceana.org/marine-life/sharks-rays/shortfin-mako-shark

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/08/mako-shark-protections-cites/