Salmon Shark (Wild Safari Sealife by Safari Ltd.)

It’s Shark Week once again, the Discovery Channel’s weeklong marathon of shark documentaries that has been 34 years running. So popular is Shark Week that it’s practically a national holiday here in the United States. National Geographic has gotten in on the action too with their own Shark Fest which celebrates the cartilaginous fishes with an entire month of shark content this year. So, what better way to join in on the fun here at the Animal Toy Blog than with a week full of shark reviews? To start things off we’ll be looking at the newest shark to grace our shelves and toyboxes, the salmon shark by Safari Ltd.

The addition of a salmon shark (Lamna ditropis) to Safari’s roster is especially exciting for me because the salmon shark, and its Atlantic counterpart the porbeagle (Lamna nasus), happen to be two of my favorite shark species. Although these sharks are not rare in nature, they are species that most people have probably never heard of, the kind that rarely get a Shark Week popularity boost. As a result, I never thought any toy company would tackle one of them, so this salmon shark was my most anticipated animal figure of the year, and I am so excited to share it with you all.

The salmon shark could be called a great white shark in miniature. They look very much like their close cousins but at a maximum size of 10’ (3.048) only reach about half the size. And if you’re enamored by the idea of a pint size great white then you can understand why I adore these sharks so much. Salmon sharks and great whites, along with the porbeagle and two species of mako sharks, belong to the Lamnidae or mackerel shark family.

Salmon sharks live in cool coastal and oceanic seas in the North Pacific where their high body temperature gives them an advantage in their pursuit of salmon, herring, sardines, and other fishes as well as squid. The salmon shark is one of only three shark species found in Alaskan waters. Although salmon sharks are considered potentially dangerous there are no confirmed attacks on humans from a salmon shark.

The Safari salmon shark measures 5.25” (13 cm) which puts it at 1/22 in scale for a maximum sized 10’ specimen. It is presented with its mouth open and thrusting forward at some unseen prey. The tail has a gentle rightward curve. The salmon shark is sculpted by Safari’s premier sculptor, Doug Watson.

This salmon shark is beautifully executed with its heavy spindle-shaped body, short conical snout, and long gill slits. The caudal fin (tail) is crescent shaped and strongly keeled with a unique smaller, secondary keel that is useful in identifying this species in life and distinguishing it from the great white shark. The second dorsal and anal fins are appropriately small, and the lack of claspers attached to the pelvic fins indicate that this shark is a female. Individually sculpted, triangular teeth can be seen inside the open mouth with two layers of teeth sculpted on the bottom jaw.

The Safari salmon shark is dark gray dorsally, and white ventrally with dark blotches. The underside of the snout is also dark gray, a feature of adult salmon sharks. The underside of the pectoral fins are edged in black and accurately have white patches over their bases. The dorsal fin is entirely black which helps distinguish this shark from the similar porbeagle, which has a white patch on the rear of the dorsal fin. The eyes are shiny black, the teeth white, and the inside of the mouth is pink.

To my eye this is a flawless, well researched little salmon shark. Safari has done it again and proven that where toy sharks are concerned, they reign supreme. The Safari salmon shark is the only figure available of this species and essentially to any collection wishing to highlight shark diversity. The Safari salmon shark is new for 2022 and available for a retail price of $6.99.