Scalloped Hammerhead Shark

Photo: Kris Mikael Krister · CC BY

Scalloped hammerheads pass Cape Nelson Wall in schools during certain tidal cycles, their uniquely shaped cephalofoil head dramatically enhancing their electroreceptive ability to detect prey buried in sediment and their wide-set eyes providing nearly 360-degree monocular vision. Their schooling behavior is one of the most studied in large sharks — aggregations appear to serve social bonding functions and may relate to reproductive assessment, with females dominating the interior of schools and males the periphery.