One of the 26 sharks on WAnimals
Cartilaginous fish · Carcharhiniformes · Sphyrnidae
Sphyrna mokarran
At extremely high risk of imminent extinction in the wild.
It is immune to the venom of stingrays, its favourite prey, which it pins against the sea floor with its distinctive hammer-shaped head.
Weight
200 kg – 500 kg
Size
5.5 m – 6.2 m
Life expectancy
20 years
Diet
Carnivore
Feeds mainly on other animals.
Activity
Diurnal
Active mainly during the day.
Social structure
Solitary
Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.
Sighting difficulty
Very hard
AI-generated images: illustrations, not photographs.
Sources consulted: Report Card Fish.gov.au; SPAW-RAC; Animal Diversity Web; Shark Guardian; Florida Museum (age growth study); About Animals; Mokarran.org; Wikipedia (Great hammerhead); PMC (nursery resource use study)
Parks and dive sites where this species has been documented — showing 19 of 28.
Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Great Hammerhead — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.
The great hammerhead is classified as critically endangered. Organisations such as the IUCN, WWF and the Wildlife Conservation Society work specifically on its conservation and that of its habitat; looking into their programmes is a good starting point if you want to get involved.
It's documented in 14 protected areas — one reason why protecting these places matters for its conservation.
Based on what we already know about great hammerhead.
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The pins mark the parks and dive sites where its presence is documented.
