By Carly Walker, A.A. Undergraduate Student, Seminole State College & Shark Angels Intern
Scientific Study: Scalloped Hammerhead Mating Sequence by Pelayo Salinas-de-León, Mauricio Hoyos-Padilla, and Federico Pochet.
When: July 2009 Manuelita, Northeast of Isla del Coco 500km off the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica.
What: The first observation of mating behavior of the scalloped hammerhead.
How: Videotaped while on a dive.
Why: To find out how hammerheads mate since they have to keep swimming in order to stay alive. Also, to protect mating grounds from fishing and other environmentally harmful industries.
Findings: Since the mating pair were isolated from the school, it supports evidence that scalloped hammerheads don’t school to mate. They also mated where there are known to be strong currents, suggesting that they chose this area to continue to breathe while mating.
Conclusion: After the mated pair separated, it’s thought that the female returned to the school since many females seen in the school are large and possibly pregnant. It also supports satellite tagging evidence that females break away from the school and islands to go to the mangroves to give birth to their pups.