Endangered Species: The Great Hammerhead Shark (Joe Stewart)

Picture of underside of Great Hammerhead Shark

 

 

 

 

The Great Hammerhead shark is the largest of the hammerhead shark species, growing up to a length of at least 18.3 feet and are common to grow even past 20 feet in length. This apex predator is extremely important to the environment as it has a wide variety of prey that include: stingrays, groupers, squids, crab, tarpon, sardines, toadfishes, herring, other sharks, boxfish, and eagle rays. The positioning of the Great Hammerhead's eyes on each side of it's T-shaped head give it a 360 degree view that allows it to find prey positioned both below and above it with incredible accuracy. On the front of the "hammer" of the shark, there is a incredibly strong and sensitive electromagnetic field that is more sensitive in Hammerheads than any other species of shark which allows it to spot stingrays hidden under the sand which rest on the ocean floor.

These majestic creatures are being threatened the most by overfishing, driven by the global demand for shark-fin soup. The Great Hammerhead is caught, "finned", which entails its dorsal fin being removed from its body, and then being thrown back into the ocean alive, giving it a slow death from starvation or blood loss. Moreover, a large number of Great Hammerheads are caught accidentally in large commercial fishing nets along the Atlantic. The largest amount of illegal fishing of these creatures occurs along the coast of Africa as well as the Indian Ocean.This activity of humans has contributed to the Great Hammerhead species of shark to officially become endangered on a global level.

The fact that the Great Hammerhead is an endangered species is directly related to principles of ecology. The Great Hammerhead could be considered a keystone species in that if it is removed from the ecosystem, the ecosystem could collapse. The Great Hammerhead is a top predator keystone species that feeds on and regulates the populations of other species. If the Great Hammerhead were to become extinct, it could lead to a population crash of certain species as well as extinctions of other species in the same ecosystem. Therefore, it is vitally important to preserve this creature so that the ecosystem it associates itself with stays in balance and there is no further endangered or extinct species as a result.

In my opinion, these creatures play one of the most crucial parts in maintaining a balanced marine ecosystem as the Great Hammerhead has the role as the apex predator. Since it is the top predator of earth's oceans, it is it's job to maintain a proper food web without allowing one species to overpopulate or become extinct. Shark fin soup is one of the key reasons Great Hammerheads are over-fished, and I believe every country should make it illegal to serve shark-fin soup to stop this brutal treatment of sharks and reduce the amount of endangered species of shark.


Citations:

Great Hammerhead Shark. (2015, March 3). Retrieved from Our Endangered World: http://www.ourendangeredworld.com/species/sharks-fish/great-hammerhead-shark/

Great Hammerhead Shark. (2015, March 3). Retrieved from The Shark Research Institute: http://www.sharks.org/species/great-hammerhead-shark

Photocredits:  

http://www.ourendangeredworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Great-hammerhead1.png