Scalloped Hammerhead Shark

Photo: Kris Mikael Krister · CC BY

Kimud Shoal is one of the few sites in the Visayas where scalloped hammerheads are regularly sighted. The cephalofoil — the distinctive hammer-shaped head — houses an array of ampullae of Lorenzini so dense it gives hammerheads among the most refined electromagnetic detection capability of any shark, allowing them to find stingrays buried under sand. Schools gather here during cooler upwelling months, and the pattern at Kimud Shoal mirrors that at Monad Shoal: deep-water animals using a submerged topographic feature as a navigation waypoint and potential cleaning station. Critically endangered globally due to targeted and bycatch fishing.