Hammerhead sharks are distinguished by their hammer-shaped heads. There are eight species that inhabit coastal waters around the world to depths of 300 meters. They are highly social and communicate through body movements. Hammerheads have wide-set eyes and nostrils on their hammer-shaped heads which help them hunt prey like fish, sharks, stingrays, and invertebrates. Their unusual head shape provides maneuverability for restraining prey. Overfishing threatens hammerhead populations due to their slow reproduction rates.

2. What Is A Hammerhead
Shark?
-Members of the Sphyrnidae family
-Includes eight species: Scalloped
Bonnethead, Winghead Shark, Scalloped
Hammerhead, Scoophead Shark, Great
Hammerhead, Bonnethead Shark, Golden
Hammerhead and Smooth Hammerhead.
-Set apart from other sharks by their
hammer shaped head

3. Habitat
Hammerhead sharks are
found in long coasts in
water up to depths of
300m and also in shallow

4. Habitat Continued…
-Migrate to cooler water during summer months
frequently in large masses
-Found in lagoons and continental shelves
-Large gatherings found in bodies of water such
as Hawaii, South Africa, Australia - studies
concluded they are highly social and
communicate through body movement including
rituals such as shaking the head and pushing
other with their bodies

5. Feeding Information
-Prey on many different species
such as fish and other types of
sharks
-Stingray is most valued food
source; tail spine is even
consumed
(Flying cloud. 2008)
-Invertebrate prey:
crabs, squid, octopus, lobsters
-Bony fish:
groupers, catfish, flatfish
-Great hammerheads have been
reported of eating their own
species (Antonio, 2008)
-Feeds at dusk along floor of

6. Body has several distinctive features
-Hammerhead
of a Hammerhead
-“cephlafoil”, meaning two wide flattened
expansions that resemble shape of hammer
-Hammer shaped extensions made up of connective
tissue and supported by skeloton
-Hammer shaped head varies from each type of
hammerhead including great, scalloped, and
smooth
-Round eyes located on far regions of hammer
head-very far apart
-Lateral expansions also include nostrils
-Dorsal fins located on shark varies in size and
direction of point, all very large
-Brown to light grey on dorsal side and white
underside

7. Anatomy of A Hammer Head
(Stapley, 2011)

8. -Hammer heads use their body form as an
advantage when capturing live prey
-They can control the angle of attack that
their head pins down prey
-Highly maneuverable and can use whole body
and weight to hold onto prey- can bat down
and restrain with just their head
-This plays a role in the capture of sting rays
which are animals that swim on an angle
-Very quick and efficient at holding prey in
place and then consuming it
-Nostrils and eyes (36 degree view of
surroundings)being spread out plays a vital
role in capturing of prey; it allows

9. Advantages to “Hammer
head”
-Optic nerves in a hammerhead’s
brain are reached through smell
that enters each nostril
individually
-Hammerheads can determine
direction of smell by paying close
attention to which nostril the
smell hits first since they are so
spread apart
-Nostrils spread apart allows them

10. Reproduction
-Slow reproduction rate
-Frequently mate close to surface of
water
-Yolk-sac placenta sustained in
uterus
-Live birth known as viviparity
-Relies on nutrition to feed unborn
pup
-Birth occurs after 11 months in spring
and summer- occurs in Northern
Hemisphere

11. Specific importance to
humans
Hammerhead sharks are highly
valued for their fins, their meat is
consumed by humans and they
provide liver oil for vitamins

12. Conservation and
Endangerment
Classified in large coastal species group-
most vulnerable to overfishing
Usually not a specific target to fishers but
often die when they are caught by
gillnet or nets
Currently considered to be endangered by
the World Conservation Union
Under threat due to shark finning
operations
Populations are vulnerable to fishers
because of slow reproduction rate
According to the International Union

13. Interesting facts
-Hammerhead sharks can get a sun tan
from swimming close to waters
surface for an extended amount of
time- dorsal side will become darker
when increased exposure to sun
-Some members of the shark family
including hammerheads exert up to
8,000 pounds of force per square inch
when biting their prey
-These specific sharks are wanted to
make Asian fin soup that can cost
between 20 and 1,000 dollars a bowl

14. Image References
Powerdinky. Baby Hammerhead. 19 Feb. 2008. Flickr.com. Web. 20 Nov. 2011
http://www.flickr.com/x/t/0098009/photos/24027902@N08/2277915531/
Pertersbar. Hammer from Cocos Island, Costa Rica. 3 Jan 2010. Flickr.com.
Web. 20 Nov. 2011
http://www.flickr.com/x/t/0098009/photos/barrypeters/4242623174/
Seamore. The depths.9 March 2009. Flickr.com. Web. 20 Nov. 2011
http://www.flickr.com/x/t/0093009/photos/seamoor/3341036032/
*Cris*. Hammerhead Shark. 12 June 2007. Flickr.com. Web. 20 Nov. 2011
http://www.flickr.com/x/t/0094009/photos/cristiano_deana/542916788/

15. Image References
Continued…
MaestroBen. Hammerhead. 13 Feb 2007. Flickr.com. Web. 20 Nov. 2011
http://www.flickr.com/x/t/0098009/photos/maestroben/389503682/
Erik Charlton. Hammerhead. 12 Oct 2008. Flickr.com. Web. 20 Nov. 2011.
http://www.flickr.com/x/t/0095009/photos/erikcharlton/2935553971/
Flying Cloud. Sea World Sting Ray. 13 July 2008. Flickr.com. Web. 20. Nov. 2011.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/flying_cloud/2666292417/.
Antonio, Charlie V. Giant Crab at Manilla Ocean Park Philippines. 19
April 2008. Flickr.com. Web . 20 Nov. 2011.
http://www.flickr.com/x/t/0099009/photos/charlimages/2424279935/ .

16. Text References
Bester, Cathleen. “Great Hammerhead.” Florida Museum of Natural History. FLMH
Icthyology Department, 2011. Web. 7 Oct. 2011
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/gallery/descript/greathammerhead.html
Galloway, Evan. “Sharks Follow Their Nose.” Today’s Science. Facts On File News
Services, July 2010. Web. 7 Oct 2011.
http:://www.2facts.com/article/s1800090
Maddalena, Alessandro and Buttigieg, Alex. “The Social Lives of Hammerheads.”
WorldandI.com, June 2006. Web. 1 Nov 2011.
http://www.worldandi.com/subscribers/feature_detail.asp?num=25044
Martin, Aiden. “Sandy Plains: No Place to Hide. Great Hammerhead Shark.” ReefQuest
Centre for Shark Research. Biology of Sharks and Rays, n.d. Web. 1 Nov 2011.
http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/ecology/sandy-gt_hammerhead.htm.
Murray, Loiuse. “Endangered Great Hammerhead Sharks Tracked on North Atlantic.” Earth
times. Feb. 2011. Web. 7 Oct 2011.
http://www.earthtimes.org/nature/endangered-great-hammerhead-sharks-tracked -
north-atlantic/340/.

17. Text References Continued
Plessis, Amelia Du. “Sharks: The Hammerhead Sharks.” Sharks.org. 2011. Web. 7 Oct 2011.
http://www.sharks.org.za/hammerhead-shark.html.
SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. “Sharks and Rays-Diet and Eating Habits.”
SeaWorld/Busch Gardens: Animals, 2011. Web. 7 Oct. 2011.
http://www.seaworld.org/about-us/index.html.