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Hammerhead Sharks are known to travel long distances between the sea mounts in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Indivuals move between the likes of Cocos, Galapagos, Malpelo or the Revillagigedo Islands (Socorro) on a fairly regular basis. During those long journeys, they often get infested by fungi that grow on their bodies (the blotches on the side of the shark in this picture). Luckily, certain reef fish at those sea mounts provide a cleaning service to the sharks. In fact, most reef fish are cleaners at some point in their lives! They simply eat the fungi off the shark's body and in return, the sharks don't feed on them. This symbiotic relationship is just one of many examples of how these supposedly mindless killing machines interact with their environment in an intelligent and sustainable way. A balance that was intact for millions of years - before human intervention. Today, hundrets of millions of sharks are killed every year, mostly for their fins, but also for cosmetics, leather, hydraulic oils and other things. This will undoubtedly have a severe effect on the entire marine ecosystem - an ecosystem that billions of people around the world rely on for food and oxygen. If we keep disturbing this balance, this will ultimately be our own downfall.

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© Hannes Klostermann | HK-UNDERWATER.COM 2017
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4608x3456 / 2.1MB
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Galapagos, Ecuador
Hammerhead Sharks are known to travel long distances between the sea mounts in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Indivuals move between the likes of Cocos, Galapagos, Malpelo or the Revillagigedo Islands (Socorro) on a fairly regular basis. During those long journeys, they often get infested by fungi that grow on their bodies (the blotches on the side of the shark in this picture). Luckily, certain reef fish at those sea mounts provide a cleaning service to the sharks. In fact, most reef fish are cleaners at some point in their lives! They simply eat the fungi off the shark's body and in return, the sharks don't feed on them. This symbiotic relationship is just one of many examples of how these supposedly mindless killing machines interact with their environment in an intelligent and sustainable way. A balance that was intact for millions of years - before human intervention. Today, hundrets of millions of sharks are killed every year, mostly for their fins, but also for cosmetics, leather, hydraulic oils and other things. This will undoubtedly have a severe effect on the entire marine ecosystem - an ecosystem that billions of people around the world rely on for food and oxygen. If we keep disturbing this balance, this will ultimately be our own downfall.