Scalloped Hammerhead Shark

Photo: Kris Mikael Krister · CC BY

Scalloped hammerheads pass through the deeper water around Bajo del Caballo during summer months when warm Atlantic surface waters push their preferred thermocline layers closer to reachable depths, with June through September offering the highest encounter probability. Their distinctive hammer-shaped cephalofoil contains an extraordinarily dense array of electroreceptor pores called ampullae of Lorenzini — a sensory organ that can detect the electrical fields generated by fish buried in sand or by the Earth's magnetic field used for navigation. Their population has collapsed by over 80 percent globally due to targeted finning and bycatch, making any encounter significant from a conservation monitoring perspective.