Hammerheads rule the food chain as shark-eating apex predators

Urgent conservation of hammerheads is crucial to support stability across coastal ecosystems, study finds

Large hammerhead sharks are top predators in Australia’s coastal waters, specialising in hunting other sharks and stingrays, a study by the University of Newcastle has found.

Vincent Raoult, a postdoctoral researcher with the school of environmental and life sciences, analysed samples of muscle, liver and vertebrae from hammerhead sharks caught as bycatch by commercial fisheries operating along the east coast.