Habitat
Coastal and pelagic waters; juveniles enter shallow bays.
All species
Smooth Hammerhead Shark
Sphyrna zygaena
Not aggressive
The largest hammerhead found in temperate waters, with a smoothly curved head.
Maximum size
2.4–3.7 m
Aggressiveness
Not aggressive (but are potentially dangerous)
Ecology
Forms schools that migrate through the Strait seasonally.
Feeding
Bony fish, smaller sharks, rays, cephalopods. Uses electroreception to detect buried prey.
Behaviour
Schools by day, hunts more solitarily at night.
Safety notes
Generally avoids humans, but its size means encounters should be respected.
Conservation status
IUCN: Vulnerable.
Sources & Citations
Data compiled from peer-reviewed and authoritative open sources. Last reviewed 2026.
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
Conservation status for each species.
- The Shark Trust — Species Database
Biology, ecology and identification.
- FishBase
Maximum sizes, distribution and life-history data.
- Florida Museum — International Shark Attack File
Documented species behaviour around humans.
- Nature Gibraltar / Gibraltar Ornithological & Natural History Society
Local marine fauna records around the Strait.