Emily Chan
In 2013, fishermen caught a shortfin mako shark off the coast of California. It was a record-breaking catch, as the mako shark turned out to be the heaviest one ever documented. The enormous animal was 11 feet long and weighed over 1,300 pounds.
At the time, 34-year-old Matt Potter was on a three-day fishing trip with his friends. On the third day, they spotted fins after scattering a concoction of chopped mackerel and ground chum into the water. For two and a half hours, they struggled to reel in the shark with huge hooks. Finally, they were able to bring it in.
The shark’s body was taken to a processing plant. It was weighed and then stored in the freezer for research purposes. Based on its size, the shark was most likely female since male mako sharks typically only reach 500 to 600 pounds.
On average, shortfin mako sharks grow up to around seven feet long, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. However, they can get much bigger than that. For instance, in the 1950s, fishers off the coast of Turkey reeled in a mako that was over 19 feet long.
Mako sharks tend to stay away from people, although fishermen often catch smaller ones. They are also unique from other fish because they can warm up their core body temperatures to make their muscles move faster.
They like to feed on small fish like mackerel and sardines, but as they get older, they start to hunt larger fish. They might have other food sources, though. In recent years, seals have been found with wounds along the California coast. The wounds indicated that they were attacked by large shortfin mako sharks that measured more than 12 feet in length.
A decade after Potter’s shark was caught, a team of researchers is now looking for mako sharks to see if the population in the North Pacific had grown or if there was just one supersized shark doing all the attacking.
“Are there more absolutely massive makos out there, and how are they related?” said Craig O’Connell, a shark biologist and wildlife presenter. “Is it one particular family of makos, or is this a characteristic of the entire population along the coast of California?”
The team collected data on bite impressions on bait and measured the sharks as they swam alongside the boats. One shark was at least 12 feet long. An analysis of the bite marks showed that another was at least 14 feet long.
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