Scalloped Hammerhead Shark

Photo: Nicholas Hess · CC BY-NC

Schools of hammerheads patrol the deeper outer edges of Cape Douglas during the garúa season, using the thermocline as a navigational and cleaning corridor. The current-swept topography here creates natural aggregation points where hammerheads gather in larger numbers than at most Isabela sites, and the combination with Mola mola in the same dive column makes for some of the most extraordinary pelagic encounters available to Galapagos live-aboard divers. Cold water (sometimes below 15°C at depth) requires a well-fitted wetsuit and thermal protection for bottom time to be extended.