Scalloped hammerhead

Photo: Kris Mikael Krister · CC BY

Small schools of scalloped hammerheads patrol the blue water beyond Elphinstone's southern tip throughout the year, typically sighted at depth between 25 and 40 m on the early morning drift dive. Their hammer-shaped cephalofoil dramatically enhances electroreception, allowing them to track prey buried in sand and detect the faint electrical fields of fish schools in open water. Critically endangered globally, Elphinstone remains one of the handful of Egyptian Red Sea sites where reliable hammerhead encounters are still possible.