Also known as
- Scalloped Hammerhead Shark US
Identification
A large, robust hammerhead built for sustained long-distance cruising and powerful runs. Females grow significantly larger than males. Schooling pelagic when juvenile, more solitary as adults.
- Distinctive scalloped, hammer-shaped head with a central notch along the front edge — diagnostic separator from smooth and great hammerheads
- Grey-brown to olive back grading to a white belly
- Very tall first dorsal fin — among the tallest of any shark of comparable size
- Broad flattened cephalofoil with eyes and nostrils at the outer tips
- Sickle-shaped pectoral fins
Where it holds
- Inshore
- Offshore
- Oceanic
Behaviour
The famous schooling hammerhead — aggregates in spectacular daytime polarised schools around seamounts and offshore pinnacles, then disperses at night to hunt individually. Bottom rays and cephalopods favoured. Feeding peaks at dawn, dusk, and through the night. Juveniles nursery in shallow estuaries; adults work coastal to oceanic water from surface to 250m. Strong site fidelity to seamount aggregation sites.
Diet: Stingrays, Small Jacks, Mackerel, Small Tunas, Squid, Octopus
How it's caught
Line Fishing
Chunking
Almost always an incidental encounter when fishing a chum slick for tarpon, tuna, or other shark species over inshore flats, channel mouths, or offshore banks. Single-strand wire trace and 12/0-14/0 non-offset circle hooks. Strict in-water release only — cut leader at the trace if deeply hooked.
Live Lining
Incidental capture on live baits intended for tarpon, jacks, and other pelagics around seamounts, channels, and inshore flats. Suspend or free-line a live mullet, jack, or small tuna. 2m of 200-300lb single-strand wire trace; 12/0-14/0 circle hooks; quick release essential.
