Hammerhead pitstop « Save Our Seas Foundation

We recently came across this article written by Tristan Guttridge at the Bimini Biological Field Station explaining how some of the tagging takes place with the Great Hammerheads in Bimini, Bahamas. Bimini is undoubtedly the best place to encounter the Great Hammerhead Sharks and has seen a recent boom in dive related tourism. Here’s Tristan’s explanation of the tagging process:

In short, by using a basic float-fishing technique taught to us by an ex-commercial shark fisherman in Florida. After mastering this method, with his guidance, we are now able to capture, tag and safely release a great hammerhead shark in less than 15 minutes. This is how we do it:

For example, of the great hammerheads caught in commercial, bottom-longline fisheries in the north-western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico between 1994 and 2005, 90% were dead by the time they were brought alongside the fishing vessel. This vulnerability makes hammerheads as a group very difficult to work with and they are therefore poorly studied.

For the full article and more photos, read Hammerhead pitstop « Save Our Seas Foundation