Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape

Acoustic telemetry data for juvenile hammerhead sharks were collected at Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica, to better understand patterns of residency of 1 year old sharks in the estuary. The area is known for presenting high abundance of neonates and juvenile hammerhead sharks, but previous data included only fisheries dependent surveys, with little information on the habitat use and residency patterns of these sharks. Telemetry data collected have been crucial for proving the presence and high residency of juvenile sharks and led to the designation of Golfo Dulce as a protected shark sanctuary and nursery site. Sharks were tagged with internal passive acoustic VEMCO tags on June 2, 2011 and data on their movement patterns collected on a receiver array in shallow waters of Golfo Dulce until February 2013.