Ecology

Great hammerhead sharks are a fundamental component to their environment. They are the apex predictor of their ecosystem, with interactions that span from having little effect, to disrupting the balance of the oceanic biome. 

The great hammerhead shark and the remora fish have a symbiotic mutualistic relationship. The remora attaches to the shark by it's suction cup mouth, and cleans the parasites off. In turn the remora gets a ride and food. 

Great hammerheads prey on species lower in the food chain, but they are also tertiary consumers, occasionally eating other sharks. A main source of food for the great hammerheads are stingrays. 

Due to over fishing of the hammerheads for their fins, and accidental bycatch their population has drastically dropped. This caused the stingray population to thrive. 

The stingrays feed on bivalve, with the shark species decreasing there was nothing regulating the stingrays and they were free to procreate and feed. This drove the bivalve to the tip of extinction in some areas.

Bivalve remove carbon and nitrogen in the ocean, reducing ocean acidity, and improving the climate.

As a keystone species, great hammerhead sharks keep every trophic level below them governed. They ensure diseased, injured, and aged marine life are removed. They limit the abundance of mid-level predator's, and maintain the prevalence of various species in the coral reef ecosystem, its communities structure and biodiversity.