Hey there! Have you ever wondered about the amazing creatures that live in the ocean? Today, we’re going to explore some really cool ocean animals and find out which one is the fastest!
First up, let’s talk about the dwarf seahorse. These little guys are so tiny that they’re hard to see! They’re one of the smallest seahorses in the world. But guess what? They’re also the slowest fish in the ocean. It would take them a whole school day just to cross your classroom! Can you imagine waiting behind them in the lunch line?
Now, let’s dive into the world of fast ocean animals. Have you ever seen a squid? Squids are part of a group called cephalopods, and they have a cool way of moving. They suck water into a tube called a siphon and then shoot it out, zooming through the water like a rocket!
And check out the flying fish! They don’t actually fly, but they can jump out of the water and glide through the air using their wing-like fins. Sometimes, they even land on boats!
Most fish, like sharks and tuna, use their fins to swim super fast. The bluefin tuna is one of the fastest fish in the ocean. It moves its tail fin from side to side to speed through the water. Those side fins help it steer as it zooms along.
Now, let’s talk about the fin whale. It’s the second-largest animal on Earth and can weigh as much as 20 elephants! You might think it’s slow, but it’s not. Thanks to its powerful tail called a fluke, it can swim up to 29 miles per hour. That’s faster than the fastest human can run!
Meet the shortfin mako shark, believed to be the fastest shark in the ocean. It can swim up to 45 miles per hour using its strong tail fins. Its body is shaped like a torpedo, helping it cut through the water easily.
Want to try an experiment? Next time you’re in the water, move your hand through it. Feel the water pushing back? Now, turn your hand sideways like a shark’s body. Notice how it slices through the water more easily? That’s how fast animals move!
Finally, let’s meet the sailfish, the fastest ocean animal. It can swim nearly 70 miles per hour! It has powerful muscles and a special body shape. Its huge sailfin helps it go even faster by folding down when it wants to speed up.
Sometimes, the sailfish leaps out of the water like a flying fish, making it even faster. Isn’t that amazing?
There are so many fast animals in the ocean, each with unique ways to move. Thanks for joining us on this ocean adventure! Keep asking questions and stay curious about the world around you. See you next time!
Make Your Own Ocean Animal: Gather some craft supplies like paper, scissors, and markers. Choose one of the ocean animals from the lesson, like the sailfish or the shortfin mako shark, and create your own model of it. Think about how its body shape helps it move fast in the water. Once you’ve made your model, try to explain to a friend or family member why your animal is so fast and how it moves through the water.
Water Resistance Experiment: Fill a large bowl or basin with water. Use your hand to push through the water and feel the resistance. Now, try using a spoon or a flat object to move through the water. Notice how the shape of the object affects how easily it moves? Discuss with a partner how this relates to the shapes of fast ocean animals like the sailfish or the mako shark.
Ocean Animal Race: With a group of friends, pick different ocean animals from the lesson and pretend to be them. Create a “race track” in your backyard or a park. Think about how your chosen animal moves and try to mimic it as you race. After the race, talk about which animal was the fastest and why. What special features help it move quickly?
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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(phone ringing) – Hi, it’s Danni. Wanna see something really cool? Check these out. They’re dwarf seahorses. Kind of hard to see, aren’t they? That’s because they’re so small. Dwarf seahorses are one of the smallest species of seahorses in the world. And they’re not just small, they’re slow. In fact, they’re the slowest-moving fish in the ocean. They’re so slow that it would take them an entire school day just to cross your classroom. Whoa, I wouldn’t want to be behind them in the lunch line.
Someone named Thea is curious about ocean animals and how they move. Let’s give Thea a call now. (phone ringing) – Hi, Danni. – Hi, Thea. – I have a question for you. What is the fastest ocean animal? – It’s such a great question and it’s a really hard one to answer. I mean, there are so many fast animals in the ocean and they move in so many different ways, like this squid. Cephalopods, like squid and octopuses, are pretty fast because they use a unique method to get around.
Squids suck water into a long tube called a siphon and then shoot it out. And that water jet can launch them pretty quickly through the water, especially when they’re trying to escape from a predator. Oh, and have you seen these? They’re flying fish, and they really know how to zoom. Flying fish don’t actually fly, but they can jump out of the water and glide through the air using their wing-like fins. Sometimes, they even glide right onto boats.
Now, most fish, like sharks, tuna, or halibut, don’t use their fins to fly through the air, right? They use them to swim, like this super speedy bluefin tuna, one of the fastest fish in the ocean. See how it’s swishing its tail fin from side to side? That’s how most fish move. Those side fins are for steering when they’re speeding through the water.
Now, bluefin, squid, and flying fish are just a few of the speedy animals in the ocean, but there are many more, like different types of dolphins, sharks, and stingrays. There are just too many to list. But which one is the fastest? Is it an animal that uses water jet power, like a squid or octopus? Is it a fish that leaps out of the water, like a flying fish? Or could it be a fish, like a shark or tuna, that uses its fins to swim?
Before we go on, I’m curious. What do you think? What’s the fastest ocean animal? Now would be a good time to pause the video and discuss. Okay, are you ready? I’m not sure how you answered, but you may have guessed a fish that’s small and light, like the flying fish we talked about. And you’re right, a lot of small fish are pretty fast. But check out this fin whale. It’s the second-largest animal on our planet.
Now, it may be tempting to think that an animal that huge is super slow. I mean, it can weigh as much as 20 elephants. But guess what? They’re not slow at all. In fact, the fin whale can swim five times faster than the speediest Olympic swimmers. Whoa. How is that even possible? It’s all because of their powerful tails called flukes. Whales have huge, powerful muscles that move their flukes up and down, allowing them to swim up to 29 miles per hour, which is faster than even the fastest human can run on land.
So fin whales are pretty fast, but they’re not the fastest. Check out this shortfin mako shark. Many scientists believe that the shortfin mako is the fastest shark in the ocean. It uses its powerful tail fins to propel itself through the water at speeds of up to 45 miles per hour. That’s almost twice as fast as the fastest human runner.
But it’s not just its strong tail fins that make it so fast. What do you notice about how it’s shaped? See how it’s kind of like a torpedo? When something moves through the water, the water pushes back, and that push slows you down. You may have felt that push when you were swimming or walking through water, but a mako shark’s special shape lets it cut through the water like an arrow, making swimming a lot easier and faster.
There’s an experiment you can try sometime on your own, which can help you see how this works. Next time you’re in the water, try running your hand through it like this. You’ll notice the water pushing back. Now, try putting your hand sideways, like you’re slicing through the water. The water’s still pushing back, but you’ll notice that your hand is slicing through the water now, like a mako shark does, and that makes it a lot easier.
Now, having a special shape doesn’t just apply to sharks. All of the fastest animals in the ocean have special body shapes that help them cut through the water. Like this one. You’re looking at a sailfish, the fish that most scientists think is the fastest ocean animal of all. It can swim nearly 70 miles per hour. That’s 14 times faster than the fastest Olympic swimmers and faster than a lot of cars on the freeway.
Not only does a sailfish have powerful muscles like a whale and a special body shape that cuts through the water like a shark, it has a special ability. See its huge sailfin? When it wants to go super fast, it’s able to fold that down so it can move through the water even faster. And when it wants to slow down, it just pops the sail back up, kind of like a parachute slows down a racecar. So cool.
Oh, and get this. A lot of times, the sailfish will leap out of the water like a flying fish, so it doesn’t have to push through the water at all. So in summary, there are a lot of fast animals in the ocean. But the fastest ocean animals of all, like the sailfish, have powerful muscles and special body shapes that allow them to slice through the water better than the rest.
That’s all for this week’s question. Thanks, Thea, for asking it. Now, for the next episode, we reached into our question jar and picked out three questions sent in to us that we’re thinking about answering next. When this video is done playing, you’ll get to vote on one. You can choose from: What makes bricks stick together to make a wall? How do scientists learn about wild animals? Or how are headphones invented?
So, submit your vote when the video is over. We want to hear from all of you watching. There are mysteries all around us. Stay curious and see you next week.
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