How fast do leopard sharks swim?

Leopard sharks can swim as fast as 8 miles per hour and can achieve short bursts of speed when swimming away from predators. In normal situations, leopard sharks are believed to maintain swimming speeds between 1 and 4 miles per hour.

Scientifically, the speed at which a leopard shark swims is determined by measuring the number of body lengths per second the shark swims, about one body length per second. Using this calculation, the rate at which a leopard shark swims can vary due to the size of the shark and the environment in which the shark is swimming. When a leopard shark experiences a burst of speed, it can more than double the body lengths per second that it swims.