Schooling Scalloped Hammerheads
This day is still so vivid in my memory. I remember the sleek silhouetted dorsal fins cutting through the placid surface, catching our attention as we scanned the sea. I remember deducing that they were Scalloped Hammerheads by the shape & proximity of their dorsal and caudal fins. I remember carefully sneaking into the water and calling to Jim through my snorkel, “You’ve got to come see this!” because I couldn’t take my eyes off of the 80+ animals that slowly circled from the top of the water column, disappearing into the blue, beyond my vision. I remember noticing that the majority of these animals were female and I remember the moment I realized that they were observing us as well. I had never looked a Hammerhead in the eye before; the animals I’d previously encountered always fled before I could get close but, this day was different, and I took in every detail I could: the rough structure of their skin, the golden shimmer it reflected near the surface