Hammerhead sharks are probably one of the most curious looking of the sharks out there. They are pretty distinctive and hard to mistake for something else. What got me on the idea to write about these interesting guys was a study done recently by the University of Bath that focused on how a shark's amazing sense of smell works. To determine this, they used hammerheads and completely mapped out how sharks can smell.
There have also been more studies done regarding hammerhead sight. It used to be thought that the unique shape of their heads aided in agility. More recently, however, it was determined that the
placement of their eyes gives them incredible depth perception. Hammerhead species have the best vision of all the sharks, by a lot.
There are only nine species of hammerhead ranging in size from 3 feet to 20 feet. All of them are in the genus
Sphyrna and two of them are
critically endangered. They are found in tropical waters throughout the world. Some species are solitary and others can congregate in schools of thousands. They are not usually considered a threatening shark and generally even
considered safe for open water dives.
If you have any questions, let me know.
Picture found via Creative Commons.
