Larnaca: Mako shark spotted offshore

A mako shark has been spotted swimming off the coast of Larnaca, Cyprus, with the incident captured on video.

Mako sharks or herring sharks are found in shelf temperate and tropical seas around the world. The mako shark is widely distributed throughout the three warm oceans and can be found almost everywhere. These sharks usually live in deep water, at a distance of a mile from the shore.

The graceful blue-gray sharks can be found at depths of up to 500 meters. They prefer to live in warm waters, where the water temperature ranges from 17 to 22 degrees. In waters cooler than 17 degrees they appear extremely rarely. Canadian fishermen have almost never seen sharks like this.

Previously, this species of shark appeared quite rarely in the Mediterranean Sea, but due to global warming, this species may become a more frequent visitor to the coasts of Greece and Cyprus.

Unlike many other sharks, the teeth of this predator are long, thin and curved back. They are perfectly visible even with the mouth closed. The shark feeds mainly on squid and bony fish, such as tuna, swordfish, and mackerel. Also on the menu for makos are turtles, other sharks and porpoises. Female mako sharks reach sexual maturity at a length of more than 2.5 meters (by 17-19 years), males – 1.85 m (by 7-9 years). Viviparous fish give birth to from 4 to 25 sharks up to 70 cm long; the rest period of females after labor can be up to 18 months.

For humans, the mako shark can pose a significant threat. This fish reaches speeds of more than 80 km/h and can jump out of the water more than 5 meters in height. There have been cases where sharks have capsized boats. An eyewitness, a fisherman, told how one day a three-meter shark jumped out of the water and knocked down his friend who was standing in the boat. In addition, many boats were overturned while catching sharks, since the four-meter animal has considerable mass and strength. Mako shark meat is highly prized, and it attracts many fishermen who try their best to get such a prestigious catch.

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