Where are all the hammerheads in Galapagos?

[DazedAndConfuzed]

Came back from a week in Galapagos. Was told sometimes, we would just hang out by the rocks and watch a show of Hammerheads the whole dive. Wolf was OK, with maybe 5 min stints hanging onto the rocks to watch for hammerheads swim by, but on the 2 days at Darwin, it was literally a dry spell (maybe a few, but we were on the move on every dive).

Are they fishing boats finning the sharks before they can get to the islands?

 

[baitballer]

My understanding is they fin them all round the islands. This was the main reason that a few years back all of the liveaboards with a couple of exceptions were not allowed to leave port due to permits issues, from what I understand it was due to fisherman pressure so they could have a go! I was due to go then but got cancelled at the last minute.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

I read through that long thread, but it looks like the law was changed so whole sharks could be brought up, but not just fins. I am not sure if the local fishermen are just piling their fishing boats with sharks and then finning them once they get on land or they just went to catch more lucrative fishes and left the industrial finning to the ships outside the marine mark.

 

[DiveTheGalapagos]

Lwang...You went to the Galapagos once in low season. To turn that into a proclamation is a bit far fetched, though understandable due to your personal disappointment. As stated in another thread, pay full price and go in high season. You won't be disappointed. I dived in Nov 2011 and we had schools of anywhere from 25 up hammerheads (so close point and shoots got great shots) to schools of hundreds during a drift dive. All together, we saw thousands at very close range over a couple of days. (And Galapagos sharks circling our groups, sometimes seemingly close enough to touch.) Hammerheads are migratory. Around mid-to late Feb, the populations diminish as they head towards Cocos and Malpelo only to repopulate the Galapagos again around April. So to answer your question, "Where are all the hammerheads?" When you were there, they had probably begun to thin out for the Cocos/Malpelo migration. Diminished populations combined with unfortunate bad visibility can equal a disappointing trip. Too bad that was your misfortune and thank goodness that's rarely the case.

I tried linking a site with fascinating information, migramar.org, but the site has been suspended. A group of scientists successfully tagged hammerheads to route the migration. One piece of data I remember was that hammerheads traveled the 700+ kilometers from Darwin to Cocos in 11 days. Will have to find out what happened to the site. It was great! You can still google "migramar" and find some info.

---------- Post added at 12:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:50 PM ----------

Migramar news still available on Facebook: MigraMar | Facebook

 

[ScubaMoMo]

I went to the Galapagos on a trip organized by DiveTheGalapagos on the Estrella del mar in august 2011 and we had literally hundreds of hammerheads on every dive at Wolf and Darwin except one day when there were Orcas hunting nearby.

 

[laurenceh]

yes we saw hundreds at darwin and wolf in late august/early september, even orcas hunting hammerheads which had to be a once in a lifetime experience. you must have timed it poorly.

 

[ScubaMoMo]

Wow so you saw the orcas hunting hammerheads in a dive? Do you have any video or pictures? Would love to see that!

 

[laurenceh]

[video=youtube;GWKp6G6YO10]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWKp6G6YO10[/video]


just a glimpse of orcas but the other group saw the bull orca with a hammerhead in its mouth during the safety stop

 

[DiveTheGalapagos]

Great video laurence! I was going to ask if you were in Puerto Lopez, but at the end, the title says Manta. I stay away from the coat because I can't take the sickening sights of dead sharks on a beach. By catch my a**! That mobula at the end around 5:30 looks as big as a manta. I've seen Orcas above the water. I've heard them in the water, but I've never sighted one diving. I'm jealous. Were you perhaps there in 2011?

 

[supergaijin]

Where are all the hammerheads in Galapagos?

A picture speaks a thousand words