The Great Hammerhead - Facts and Identification

When one thinks of the most dangerous sharks in the ocean, the great hammerhead rarely comes to mind. The great hammerhead is not nearly as aggressive as other sharks that are of similar size such as the Great White, bull shark, tiger shark and mako. Still, the great hammerhead is the most dangerous of the hammerhead family to human beings, and by far the largest.

The great hammerhead grows up to 20 feet in length and up to 1000 pounds. Any shark with that type of size is a danger to human beings in the wrong situation. Even still, the great hammerhead largely ignores human beings as a food source, preferring instead the easy to catch sting rays that can be found along the ocean floor. Generally speaking, great hammerhead shark attacks on humans are cases of mistaken identity or curiosity bites.

The great hammerhead is usually an olive to gray color on top and white to cream on the belly. One distinguishing characteristic about the great hammerhead is the tall dorsal fin. This fin often towers out of the water when the shark goes near the surface. The great hammerhead has one of the tallest dorsal fins in the shark world.

Of course, the most obvious characteristic of a great hammerhead is the hammer like head with eyes on either end of the hammer. The mouth of the great hammerhead is found underneath this head, and it is lined with highly serrated triangular shaped teeth. These teeth are perfect for shredding prey and defending themselves. Their incredible field of vision is aided by the fact that they can see to their right and left simultaneously.

The great hammerhead searches the ocean floor for sting rays and other prey by using special sensors that are located under that hammerlike head. They will move their heads back and forth while skimming across the ocean floor until they find food.

Another driving force for great hammerhead sharks is the hunt for cold waters. They do not like the warmer waters and will often search out cold water in schools. This is why you see them traveling in school-like groups. They will hang out in deep waters or in closer to the shore.

While there are nine different types of hammerhead sharks, the great hammerhead is by far the largest and most dangerous. They are considered to be more aggressive than the other species, which are generally harmless to human beings. The odds of you being attacked by any shark are very small, but the great hammerhead is one of the least likely to attack in comparison to other sharks of similar size.

Sources:

Great Hammerhead Shark, Sphyrna mokarran at MarineBio.org