Hammerhead Shark
SPHYRNIDAE
ENDANGERED
LIFE SPAN
Hammerhead sharks can live 20-30 years.
HABITAT
Hammerhead sharks live all over the place! They go back and forth from the shoreline out to deep waters offshore.
RANGE
Hammerhead sharks are found in temperate and tropical waters around the world.
PREFERRED FOOD
Hammerhead sharks are active hunters, and eat fish such as grouper, catfish and other sharks and invertebrates like squid, crabs and lobsters.
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About
Hammerhead sharks are one of the most recognizable sharks in the sea! No one has a head quite like theirs, which is where they got their name (no surprise). Hammerhead sharks have very wide-set eyes, which gives them a better field of vision than other sharks. Thanks to their ampullae of Lorenzini (electroreceptors that are sensory organs found in sharks, rays and a few other fish), hammerhead sharks can easily detect their prey. These organs are like a sixth sense. Hammerhead sharks can find the electrical fields of prey species, even when they’re buried under the sand. There are nine species of hammerhead shark, most of which are generally pretty small in size. The biggest is the great hammerhead, which can grow up to 20 feet long!