Great Hammerhead

The great hammerhead is the largest of the hammerhead shark species, found in warm coastal and offshore waters around the world, unmistakable for its wide, flattened head, called a cephalofoil, which is straighter and less curved than in smaller hammerhead relatives. The unusual head shape spreads its sensory organs over a wider area, helping it detect the electrical signals of prey buried in sand, particularly stingrays, which form a major part of its diet along with other fish, squid and crustaceans. Great hammerheads are solitary, highly mobile predators capable of long migrations between habitats, and they can grow to among the largest sizes recorded for any hammerhead. Heavily targeted for its large fins in the shark fin trade and vulnerable to accidental capture in fisheries, the species has undergone steep population declines and is now classified as critically endangered.