Fish avoid hammerhead sharks by using scuba diver for cover

Big eyed jacks are a preferred food of many of the sharks in the Galapagos Islands and they seem to know it. These waters are home to thousands of hammerhead sharks that school in great numbers. There are also Galapagos sharks, the top predators here, as well as black tipped reef sharks. These big eyed jacks have many reasons to be wary of what lurks in the depths all around them.Show more

But one way for prey fish like these to avoid being eaten is to find larger animals to hide near. The fish seem to know that the hammerheads we see behind them are reluctant to come too close to the clumsy and awkward looking group of scuba divers. The jacks might understand that the scuba divers are less of a threat, or they might simply hope that the divers are a distraction for the sharks. But either way, they have come directly for the safety of the people in the water.

The scuba divers in this group have ventured here from all over the world to see the amazing and fascinating life that thrives under the waves. The fish and other marine animals come here for the food which is brought by the convergence of three powerful ocean currents that create an upwelling of plankton. Bait fish come to eat the tiny and numerous plankton. They in turn attract larger fish and the larger fish attract the top predators. This is the food chain and the web of life that allows all the animals on the planet to survive.

Hammerhead sharks are formidable hunters with few enemies. The Galapagos shark reigns, even over the hammerheads, at least until the orcas make an appearance. The orcas are undeniably the ocean's top predators, but it is rare to find them in these waters.

The Galapagos Islands are remote and isolated, but they are teeming with life. For most scuba divers, this is the biggest bucket list adventure. It is a world like no other.