Invasion Of The Hammerheads Close To Shores In Japan

Hammerhead sharks, which rarely venture near coastlines, were spotted close to beaches in Fukuoka and Shizuoka prefectures early this month, apparently because of a warm current that was flowing near the shore. A witness reported seeing the sharks, saying, "There were loads of sharks with hammerlike heads." A school of several hundred hammerhead sharks was spotted from between 200 meters and 500 meters from the beach in Koga, Fukuoka Prefecture, on Aug. 1. Three days later, two 3.5-meter hammerhead sharks were sighted by holidaymakers at Usami beach in Ito, Shizuoka Prefecture. Aqua World Ibaraki Prefecture Oarai Aquarium said five to six smooth hammerhead sharks captured near beaches have been brought to the facility each week this month, although the same number is usually caught in nets in one year. There are nine types of hammerhead shark. Those spotted in waters near the Japanese archipelago are mainly smooth or scalloped hammerheads...