June - Great Hammerhead Shark!
Great Hammerhead Shark
Endangered species art – Watercolor, June 2016
The great hammerhead is the largest of the hammerhead shark family. They can reach a maximum of 20 feet long. They can be distinguished from other hammerhead species by their broad, nearly straight “hammer” which is called a cephalofoil, and their very tall sickle-shaped dorsal fin. Great hammerheads are typically a solitary nomadic predator. They inhabit tropical and temperate waters worldwide - from inshore waters to the edge of the continental shelf. They prey mainly upon fish, cephalopods, (squid) other sharks, and their favorite foods are rays and skates.
The great hammerhead is now an endangered species due to human greed and exploitation. Though they are endangered, they are still heavily hunted for their large fins. The sharks are captured, all their fins are sliced off, and then the terrified animal itself is thrown back into the ocean to suffer and die slowly – all in the name of shark fin soup. Please, PLEASE never buy shark fin soup. Please do not support this horrifically cruel, insanely wasteful, shameful, stupid practice. Please don't support businesses that support it. The individual *can* make a difference.
Sharks are crucial to the health of our oceans worldwide – the balance in the sea depends on it's apex predators. It is extremely important that we humans start caring enough to protect them and put an end to our unsustainable and archaic behavior before it is far too late - a time that will come sooner than we think. Sharks are disappearing from our oceans. Sharks have been around for hundreds of millions of years. They are specialized as top predators – they have small numbers of young, they grow slowly, and their populations cannot withstand the heavy predation we are inflicting upon them.
Again, please do not support the trade of shark fin soup. Tell your friends and family why they should do the same. If we stop buying and supporting the trade of products made from sharks we will help conserve the oceans for the future of all.
Legal: All artwork displayed here is © Amber Marine 2016, all rights reserved. Do not alter. Do not use this artwork in any way without a directly written legal agreement from the artist.
