About This Project

Great hammerhead sharks were recently assessed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List. Our research team at Field School, an inclusive marine science training program, has discovered critical habitat used by babies and juveniles. And this nursery area is right off of downtown Miami, some of the most highly impacted waters in the United States! What are they doing there? What threats do they face? This project will help us to gather data to help protect this vital site.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

Great hammerhead sharks, an iconic and beloved species, are Critically Endangered according to the latest update of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List. They need serious conservation attention.

A long-recognized conservation research priority is identifying nursery areas, special parts of the ocean where baby sharks are born and grow up before they're big enough to fend for themselves in the deep blue sea.

Our team has identified critical habitat for great hammerhead sharks, a nursery area used by juveniles. This is the only known nursery area for this species on the east coast of the United States, and therefore it is vital to understand and protect it.

What is the significance of this project?

We have identified the only known nursery area for Critically Endangered Great Hammerhead sharks on the east coast of the United States. Habitats like this one are vitally important for the conservation of this species, and we need to understand it so we can more effectively protect it from threats. While many people think of critical habitat for endangered species as being "pristine" and remote, we can see the skyline of Miami from this site--it's some of the most impacted waters on Earth. This can tell us about how other highly impacted waters can be used by marine life.

Field School has a long-term research site here where we are attempting to answer many questions about how Great Hammerhead sharks use this site, what threats they face, and what help is needed.

What are the goals of the project?

In general, our goals for the long term project are to further understand how juvenile and young-of-year great hammerhead sharks use this site, with the eventual goal of protecting it from threats.

We have several ongoing research projects at this location aiming to understand the ecology and conservation of local populations of this species and how it relates to this incredible site we've identified. These include telemetry tracking to understand habitat use, feeding ecology studies to understand what they're eating, and underwater video surveys to observe behavior. The boat rental fees raised here will contribute to gathering data for all of them.