Mako hooked off Livorno breaks free after 50 minutes

An angler unintentionally hooked a large shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) off Livorno in Italy. As ANSA reported on 27 September 2026, Marco Volpi was fishing for amberjack near the Secche della Meloria. After around 50 minutes on the line, the shark freed itself by severing the leader.

Shortfin mako off Livorno. Still from the Facebook video by Marco Volpi Official.

Size and weight are the angler’s estimates

Volpi described the animal as female and estimated its length at 2.30–2.50 metres and its weight at about 120 kilograms. The reports contain no measurements or independently confirmed sex identification. He said the shark jumped out of the water three times during the fight.

Volpi placed the fishing area south of the Meloria in about 22 metres of water. Press reports give different distances from the harbour or coast. They do not establish a reliable exact position.

The hook remained after the shark broke free

According to the more detailed report by Il Tirreno, Volpi was preparing a knife to cut the leader close to the mouth. The shark then reportedly struck the boat with its tail and broke the connection. It consequently swam away with the hook still attached. No injuries to the angler were reported.

The contact with the boat followed the shark’s unintentional hooking and retrieval. The account therefore describes a fishing incident; it does not establish an unprovoked attack on a person in the water.

Volpi said the remaining hook would degrade. The reports do not establish whether or when this happens, or whether the shark suffers effects from the capture. Swimming away alone does not demonstrate its longer-term condition.

What the encounter tells us

Suggestions about sea temperatures or changes in food availability provide no proven explanation for this individual encounter. It does not establish a general increase in such incidents.