Can sharks survive without their back fin ?

Question

Can sharks survive without their back fin ?

Answer 1

Depends on your definition of "survive".  It can live without it, but it would be extremely hard to maneuver in the water without the fin stabilization for straight swimming.  The movement of the tail would, instead of pushing it through the water, cause the shark to thrash around verses make headway.  It would be very difficult to feed and make an excellent target for other sharks.  So it probably would survive the fin loss, but not for a great amount of time.

Answer 2

No, they can't move without their fin.