How to Spot a Porbeagle Shark

A potential danger to humans, the porbeagle shark, is a powerful, fast swimmer. Unlike most sharks, porbeagles must swim continuously to breathe. One of several mackerel sharks, the porbeagle's appearance is quite similar to the mako shark. To spot a porbeagle shark, follow these steps.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Locate porbeagle sharks in waters below 57 degrees F, typically. Pelagic and littoral sharks, they inhabit waters down to 1,200 feet on continental shelves or inshore. Porbeagle sharks live in the South Pacific, Indian and eastern and western Atlantic oceans. Along the eastern U.S. coast, they inhabit waters from Newfoundland to New Jersey, occasionally venturing as far south as the Carolinas.

2. Look for a large, stout shark, up to 12-feet long, with gray to blue-gray coloring on top, white underneath and a small white patch on the rear edge of its dorsal fin.

3. Examine the porbeagle for a torpedo-shaped body with large eyes. Its crescent-shaped caudal or tail fin has two distinct keels, distinguishing it from the mako shark, which has only one keel.

4. Identify the porbeagle by its medium-sized mouth. Its upper and lower teeth have smooth edges and lateral denticles. Mako sharks' teeth don't display these lateral denticles.

5. Note their diet, which consists mainly of botton-dwelling fish, such as flounder, cod, hake, mackerel and squid.

Tips & Warnings

• Porbeagle sharks' bodies naturally regulate heat by regenerating heat from their muscle use. This process keeps their body temperature about 20 degrees F warmer than their surrounding waters.