Cephalofoil shape
A wide cephalofoil with an almost straight front margin distinguishes it from other hammerheads.
Great Hammerhead Shark
Sphyrna mokarran
The great hammerhead is the largest hammerhead shark, a solitary apex predator found in tropical and warm temperate coastal waters worldwide.
Species Guide
What to know about great hammerhead sharks
A clean field guide focused on habitat, identification, behavior, and conservation context without burying the useful parts.
The great hammerhead (Sphyrna mokarran) is the largest species of hammerhead shark, reaching an average length of about 4.6 m and a maximum around 6.2 m. It occurs in tropical and warm temperate waters worldwide, typically inhabiting coastal areas and the continental shelf. Distinguishing features include a wide cephalofoil with an almost straight front margin, a tall sickle-shaped first dorsal fin, and strongly falcated pelvic fins. A solitary, strong-swimming apex predator, it feeds on a wide variety of prey—crustaceans, cephalopods, bony fish and smaller sharks—and observations suggest the cephalofoil is used to immobilize stingrays. Great hammerheads are viviparous, producing litters of up to about 50 pups roughly every two years. Although potentially dangerous, they rarely attack humans and can sometimes behave inquisitively toward divers. Heavy fishing for their large fins has driven substantial population declines.
Populations are declining substantially worldwide due to heavy fishing pressure for their large fins, prompting a Critically Endangered assessment by the IUCN in 2019.
Solitary and strong-swimming; occupies coastal areas and the continental shelf as an apex predator.
The strongest linked planning options currently surface around destinations such as North Male Atoll, Cairns & Great Barrier Reef, Coral Coast, Viti Levu and countries such as Maldives, Egypt, French Polynesia for divers building trips around great hammerhead sharks.
