the lifestyle, habits and survival of the hammerhead shark.
There are many different species of shark in the water today. However, not all of them look like inverted hammers swimming around! Because of their unusual shape, hammerhead sharks are one of the most examined species of shark in the world today. The reason for this attention is the unusual bone structure of its head, shaped like a sideways gavel. While this shark is a prized species, it faces extinction from several different sources.
Hammerhead sharks are of the species phylum chordata, the subphylum vertebrata, and the class chondrichthytes. They can be spotted near colder water during very hot seasons, but they tend toward warm water on a regular basis. All sharks migrate to cool water to give birth, and they give birth to live pups. They can have anywhere from 10 to 60 pups, although the normal amount is around 25. Baby hammerhead sharks rapidly move to warmer temperatures once they are born, where they clump together in smaller groups until they are older.
Because it's head is so wide and thick, the hammerhead shark's eyes look at the ocean sideways while it swims. Its nose is also spread out under the eyes. These sharks are usually brown or gray, with white or cream undersides. They contain two sets of fins, a tail and the dorsal fin, or the pointed fin that allows people to know that a shark is coming. They also have a fin on their underside to steer them through the water, like a rudder. These sharks grow to an average of four feet. They have been known to reach fourteen feet on rare occasions.
Most sharks tend toward areas of the open ocean. Many species of hammerheads are also often found in the open ocean, though they can occasionally be spotted along the coast of Florida and even Delaware and New Jersey during the summer. At this time, shark warnings are posted, although there is usually very little to fear. Most sharks are not especially dangerous to man. Only a few species of the hammerhead shark are known to attack anything moving. There are distinct sub-groups of this shark, including the bonnethead shark, the shovelhead shark, the smalleye hammerhead, the smooth hammerhead, and the black hammerhead. All have triangular teeth with very sharp points, because they are carnivores, and they normally feast on stingrays and smaller fish. They are occasionally known to eat plants, as several examinations of stomachs have brought to light. The Great Hammerhead, one of the most violent species of hammerhead shark, feeds on octopi, squid, crabs, lobsters and even other Great Hammerhead sharks! This species of shark is very dangerous, and is studiously avoided by divers in the sea.
Because they are such a rare breed of shark, hammerheads protected by the law in most areas. In captivity, they can be trained to swim in certain ways and even take food from divers. These are wonderful sharks to watch, because while they are approaching you head-on, they cannot actually see you! They must turn their heads to the side to get a look, because of the shape of their face.
While this shark is a prized animal, it is becoming extinct. Its numbers have fallen dramatically in the last few years. The reasons for this are ecosystem changes and hunting. Water pollution, like oil and grease spills, greatly endangers this form of shark. Recently, sharks, like other fish, have become entangled often in fishing nets in coastal waters. Fishermen use the nets for smaller fish, only to find a shark that they cannot use. Dead sharks in this position are just cast dead into the sea again.
Activists for sharks point to many cases of cruelty towards sharks, and particularly the hammerhead species to make their case. Shark fins are a rare delicacy in certain parts of the world, especially Asia. Sharks are taken from the water and their fins are removed while they are still alive, then they are released again. While some sharks in this condition manage to survive in shallow water, in deeper water they sink, unable to bring themselves near the surface. Shark liver oil is also used in burn medication, shark corneas are used in eye transplants and shark bone marrow can be used to graft human bones. For these reasons, sharks are removed in greater and greater numbers for the aid of humans. Most recently, science has begun testing on sharks to find a cure for cancer.
Because, in general, sharks do not mate and give birth until 12 to 15 years into their life span, most sharks today do not live long enough to reproduce. It can take up to hundreds of years to repair the damage already done by hunters and researchers on the seas. While sharks are now being bred in captivity, when released they are often easy prey for hunters because they are not used to the wild and deeper waters. Baby sharks falter in unusual environments, and fins experience some unusual changes in captivity. The best cure for the hammerhead problem is increased monitoring of the seas, and increased awareness of the public toward their survival.
