Photo of the Day: Great Hammerhead Shark

The great hammerhead shark is an elusive species and pretty hard to find. Skerry spent 19 days in the northern Bahamas in the winter to capture the image of this 14-foot male when the sea calmed down, waiting 100 hours for a few moments alone with the shark. Skerry believes their blend of grace and power makes sharks excellent photo subjects because they move elegantly and with confidence.

Though the creature looks terrifying, Skerry says there is a common misconception about sharks. “Sharks are not particularly interested in humans, it’s actually quite rare for divers to encounter them,” he says.

Skerry writes of his experiences with sharks on his blog:

“It has been said that sharks have remained unchanged for hundreds of millions of years because they are perfect and that no further evolutionary change is necessary. A few days in the company of any shark is all that is required to know this is true.”

Check out more amazing underwater photos of ocean creatures by photojournalist Brian Skerry, and help select which photographs will appear in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum’s Portraits of Planet Ocean exhibit,set to open in February 2013!

Photo (C) Brian Skerry