A hammerhead shark appeared in Kume Island’s newly found manta ray site called “Manta Station” on March 13. The video above, proving the amazing encounter, was taken by the discoverer of this site, Mr. Machida of Kumejima Sensui.

According to Mr. Machida, when he entered the dive site, he could see that the manta rays kept circling around and did not stop to have themselves cleaned at the top of the reef that day. He was waiting for them to come near him for a while…and that’s when, instead of manta rays, a hammerhead shark suddenly appeared. He was alone, swimming at about 7~8 m from the surface. Although the hammerheads are quite commonly watched at the other dive sites of Kume Island, this was the first time for one to appear at “Manta Station”.

Also, if you go to Kume Island now, you may see some manta rays swimming in line. This phenomenon called “Manta Train” is seen during the manta rays’ mating season, which is usually from March to April in Kume Island.

Information & photos from Kumejima Sensui