Hammerhead sharks are a group of nine different sharks belonging to the sphyrnid family. The most outstanding feature of these sharks is the shape of their head, extended to the sides with eyes at the tips of these extensions. Much has been studied about this shape, and the main conclusions are that it provides them with extraordinary 360º vision and has allowed them to better develop the ampullae of Lorenzini, enabling elasmobranchs to detect electromagnetic fields and locate their prey.
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Thanks to these extensions, hammerhead sharks find their food more quickly than other sharks, for example, they can detect a stingray hidden under the sand.
Hammerhead sharks hunting in Cocos Island
Hammerhead sharks are light gray with some greenish tones on the dorsal area, while the ventral part is white. Among the nine species of hammerhead shark, there are notable differences in both size and weight, ranging from 90 centimeters of the Sphyrna tiburo to the 6 meters of the Sphyrna mokarran or great hammerhead shark. Hammerhead sharks are very slender compared to other large sharks like the great white, providing them with great mobility and agility, allowing them to make abrupt and dizzying turns, aided by the shape of their head.
The mouth of hammerhead sharks is very small compared to their body. Hammerhead sharks feed on a wide variety of prey, including fish, rays, squids, octopuses, crustaceans, and even other species of hammerhead sharks. They usually position themselves on sandy bottoms at night to hunt and make a quick attack to capture their prey.
Distribution map of the hammerhead shark Hammerhead sharks are found worldwide in warm coastal waters and on continental shelves. Unlike most sharks, the hammerhead shark usually swims in large schools during the day, which can be up to 100 individuals. Some of these spectacular groups can be seen near Malpelo Island, Colombia, in Cocos Island, Costa Rica, near Molokai Island in Hawaii, in the Galápagos, and in areas of southern and eastern Africa.
Of the nine existing hammerhead species, three can be dangerous to humans. Since 2010, 33 attacks have been reported, but none have been fatal. The largest hammerhead sharks are classified by the IUCN as vulnerable, meaning they are at risk of extinction. The excessive fishing of these sharks for their fins could lead to their disappearance from our oceans shortly, as it is estimated that their global population has declined by 90% in the last 50 years. They are sharks that swim in shallow waters, making them easier to catch than other shark species.
