Hammerhead Shark

Description:

The hammerhead sharks are a group of sharks in the family Sphyrnidae, so named for the unusual and distinctive structure of their heads, which are flattened and laterally extended into a "hammer" shape called a "cephalofoil". Most hammerhead species are placed in the genus Sphyrna while the winghead shark is placed in its own genus, Eusphyra. Many, not necessarily mutually exclusive, functions have been proposed for the cephalofoil, including sensory reception, maneuvering, and prey manipulation. Hammerheads are found worldwide in warmer waters along coastlines and continental shelves. Unlike most sharks, hammerheads usually swim in schools. Some of these schools can be found near Malpelo Island in Colombia, Cocos Island by Costa Rica and near Molokai Island in Hawai'i.... It was determined recently that the hammer-like shape of the head evolved to enhance the animal's vision.[3] The positioning of the eyes give the shark good binocular vision, as well as 360-degree vision in the vertical plane, meaning they can see above and below them at all times.[4] ...From what is known about the Winghead shark, it would appear that the shape of the hammer-head has to do with an evolved sensory function. Like all sharks, hammerheads have electroreceptory sensory pores called ampullae of Lorenzini. By distributing the receptors over a wider area, hammerheads can sweep for prey more effectively.[5] These sharks have been able to detect an electrical signal of half a billionth of a volt. The hammer also allows the nostrils to be placed farther apart, increasing its ability to detect chemical gradients and localize the source. --Wiki

Notes:

The divers who clean and maintain the Ocean Voyager exhibit dive into the exhibit in teams for safety of the divers, exhibit, and animals. For every one who does the maintenance task and two are in the water as well serving on look-out duty with white PCV-type pipes that divers place in the direction of oncoming or curious critters. Not as a poke, but more like a white bar to disrupt the approach visually. I'm sure there might be other tactics taken if an animal bit a diver, I don't know for certain. There are also divers and support staff top-side incase problems occur for the animals or the humans. One diver told a story about a particularly curious female hammer-head. She kept approaching the dive team and gave the spotters a lot to handle that dive.