Aquaman and Science Trivia
I still haven’t seen this movie. However, I recently caught a Max promo for it and noticed it featured Aquaman riding a seahorse. A familiar and iconic image that I recall from comic books and cartoons. But it got me thinking. How
big do seahorses get? Turns out, not very. Most are miniscule. And the largest is an Australian species that can reach about 12 inches (30 cm) in length and about 1 pound (0.454 kg) in weight. So we must chalk up the giant versions to fantasy.
But then another thought occurred. Presumably, Aquaman rides seahorses for additional speed. Except… these critters — owing to their odd, non-hydrodynamic shape — aren’t built for speed. A better choice would be the Black Marlin: reputedly the world’s fastest fish @ 80 mph (129 km/h).
Then… a third thought. How fast does Aquaman,
himself, swim? According to the internet, it’s an astonishing 6800 mph (10,944 km/h)!!
For comparison:
Fastest (jet) boat: 318 mph (511 km/h)
Fastest submarine: 38 mph (61 km/h)
Fastest torpedo (hydo-jet): 81 mph (130 km/h)
Fastest torpedo (rocket powered): 230 mph (370 km/h)
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird (aircraft): 2193 mph (3530 Km/h)
So if Aquaman can top these speeds (by a
big margin), one wonders how much faster those giant seahorses go.
