Loch Lomond Aquarium Employees Think This Bonnethead Shark Is The Cutest Fish In The Tank

By Emma McDougall 

Loch Lomond Shores, UK - The words ‘cute’ and ‘shark’ rarely appear in the same sentence.

Yet there are few words which more accurately sum up the shark just arrived at Loch Lomond Aquarium.

It’s even turned up just in time for Easter sporting its own bonnet!

“We’ve taken delivery of a baby bonnethead shark,” explained displays supervisor and shark expert Mark Hind.

“It’s actually a member of the hammerhead shark family, but whereas hammerheads tend to scare people the usual response to meeting this one is ‘Ahh bless!’ 

“The new arrival is only a foot long and won’t actually get much bigger than three feet when fully grown,” he added, “so it’s going to stay cute for good really.”

The smallest member of the hammerhead family, bonnetheads come from the Gulf of Mexico and Brazilian coast, where they patrol the seabed swinging their flat heads from side to side like metal detectors.

Instead of metal, they detect the tiny electrical pulses given off by the buried crabs, molluscs and small fish that they prey on.

Though perhaps a bit of an embarrassment to its more macho cousins, the bonnethead staked a unique claim to fame a few years ago when a female at a zoo in Nebraska produced a healthy pup without ever having consorted with a male!

The virgin birth sent ripples of excitement through the marine science fraternity after DNA results showed mum and pup were a perfect genetic match.