Hammerheads in Focus

Wednesday, 04 April 2007

Sharks have always been considered fascinating organisms that ever lived in the water domain. Marine biologist and scientists alike have been constantly working on studying this type of a fish because of the mysteries on their behavior that have not been given finalization. A lot of theories and concepts and paradigms have been worked on and presented but a part of the shark’s behavior remains to be a mystery to them. Their “ acquired intelligence” has been quite an amusement to most marine and aqua scientists.

With the continuing evolution of the sharks in the seas, a lot of developments have also been taking place. Just recently, in 2006 of June, an announcement was made about the latest discovery of new possible shark specie – the cryptic specie, one that belongs to scalloped hammerhead specie. A lot has been continuously discovered and yet a lot of shark phenomenon has not yet been, still, given a convincing resolution.

The hammerhead shark for example, continues to have a debatable origin. Due to its difficult to find fossils or traces, it make a lot difficult for scientists to exactly determine their original ancestry. One noted shark specialist, the geneticist Andrew Martin, with the use of deoxyribonucleid acid test, he theorized that hammerheads came to appear from the winged sharks and not the bonnethead. To date, a lot of experts are still debating this fact.

Generally, the hammerhead sharks are non fatal to humans. Out of the known nine species there is on hammerhead, only three are considered dangerous to humans and they are so named as scalloped, the great hammerhead, and the smooth hammerhead. Found along the coastlines, they basically feed on other fishes, rays, and crustaceans. The hammerheads are considered strong and aggressive predators. With a bulky size and “military-like” mechanisms of tracing for preys and predators, the hammerheads are considered difficult to battle with. They are capable of widely distributing their receptors allowing them to locate preys and prospective attackers alike very effectively. They are able to sense even the slightest movement that an object or a thing creates. The presence of “efficient detectors” on hammerhead made them look like as if they have the antenna to catch radar from any position and location.

Aggressive by nature and attacker in position, it is no doubt that even in times of reproduction, the mating of the female and the male sharks become a violent process. The male shark will have to physically introduce itself to the female shark by either biting or pushing the female shark. When the female shark gives in to the male shark, that is the time that reproduction exists. A female shark can have up to average of 40 baby sharks in one, nonetheless, just recently, a pregnant female shark was caught to de bearing 55 of them on her womb. The entire process is comparable to any mammal. The babies inside the womb being fed thru the umbilical cord that takes place to about a year until they are ready to be given birth.

Sharks remain to be the most feared creature by humans in the sea. But taking a little time to know them will alleviate the high fear that was impressed to us about them. Sharks may never be a man’s best friend, but they, too also, cannot be regarded as “man’s fiercest enemy.”