Big Hammerhead Sharks
On the Protea Banks diving trips you
will experience ‘‘ Big Hammerhead Sharks "off the
KwaZulu-Natal coast of South Africa. You can dive with bull sharks,
tiger sharks and black tip sharks without a cage. An encounter with a
peaceful whale shark is possible in January, February and March. One
of the great highlights of shark watching is the time of the Sardine
Run, when millions of sardines visit our coast.
Big Hammerhead Sharks - Dive Holidays– Durban Shark Diving in South Africa
Rates South Africa diving safari at a
glance:
- 5 nights with half board
- 4 days of scuba diving
- Food on the shark boat: sandwiches,
biscuits, chocolate, water and fruit juices
- Rates: from ZAR 31,900 - Extension
price per diving day: from ZAR 7,800
Booking conditions:
- AOWD diving license
- 25 dives should be certified
The size of this shark is very
different from other hammerhead shark species. Like all sharks, it is
equipped with seven senses and, thanks to its Lorenzini ampoules,
which are located in the head part, it tracks down its prey even
under sand.
Should he capture a prey, he holds the
animals with his hammer-like head and bites them, till unable to
swim, before he eats them.
Great hammerhead profile - Great
hammerhead
- Latin name: Sphyrna mokarran
- Tribe: vertebrates (Chordata)
- Family: Hammerhead Sharks
(Sphyrnidae)
- Genus: Sphyrna
- Class: Cartilaginous fish
(Chondrichthyes)
- Order: gray sharks
(Carcharhiniformes)
- Average size: 4 to 5.5 meters
- Maximum height: 6.1 meters
- Average weight: 230 kg
- Maximum weight: 580 kg - as a rule,
females weigh more than males
- Head shape: hammer-like - laterally
elongated skull
- Senses: he feels electrical impulses
from his prey through his Lorenzini ampoules
- Eyes: three-dimensional vision
possible
- Diving depth: up to 80 meters
- Skin color: gray-brown - lower belly:
pale whitish
- Sense of smell: very pronounced
- Body shape: streamlined
- Cleft gill: 5
First dorsal fin: large and
sickle-shaped
Puberty
- Males: 2.3 to 2.7 meters & 51 kg
- Females: 2.5 to 3.0 meters & 41
kg
- Pregnancy: every 24 months
- Gestation period: 11 months
- Birth: viviparous
- Number of young sharks at birth: 6 to
42 young sharks
- Baby size at birth: 50 to 70 cm
- Wandering behaviour: long distances
- Enemies: Orcas, Bull Sharks, Tiger
Sharks & Great White Sharks
- Special feature: Young sharks in
particular are preyed on by bull sharks.
- Disribution areas: tropical and
subtropical coastal waters
- Distribution areas in South Africa:
Garden Route, Plettenberg Bay, Protea Banks
- Hunting: active at night - during the
day it forms schools
- Diet: stingrays, groupers, rays,
sardines (Sardine Run), herrings, cuttlefish, small smooth sharks and
other smaller shark species
- Shark accidents with people: shy and
peaceful, but dangerous if the diving behavior is incorrect
Red list: endangered
There are a total of eight species of
hammerhead sharks, which we have sorted according to type and maximum
length in the following table, with the corona hammerhead being the
smallest species.
Shark species meter
-
Great hammerheads 6.1 meter
-
Smooth hammerheads 4.0 meter
-
Bow-forehead hammerheads 3.7 meter
-
Spoonhead Hammerheads 1.5 meter
-
Shovel-nose hammerheads 1.5 meter
-
Small-eye hammerheads 1.5 meter
-
Corona hammerheads 0.92 meter
Protea Banks - Shark Watching
From June to September the "great
hammerhead" is very rare in the Protea Bank, but we see many
bow-fronted hammerheads in very large schools from mid-October to
mid-January. 100 to 1,000 sharks can be observed daily. Find out more
on the following page about the shark season.
If you start your vacation in Cape
Town, we would like to offer you shark diving in Gansbaai. The diving
area of the "Great White Shark" is approx. 200 km
from Cape Town. You can reach us with an inexpensive self-drive, but
we will be happy to pick you up from Hermanus or Cape Town for a day
tour.
In contrast to our ocean safaris in the
Durban area, however, only cage diving is possible in Gansbaai, as
the visibility is sometimes only 3 meters. Diving without a cage
would be too dangerous for inexperienced recreational divers. You do
not need a diving license for our shark tours in the Cape Town area,
as a snorkel is sufficient for cage diving.
Please contact us for further
information or requests.
Your Cape Town shark diving team
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