I quickly made an incision just below the dorsal fin and placed the tag into the muscle. We separated the steel from the mono leader and decided to let him keep it instead of trying to dig out the hook. Next we measured out the shark. Looking at the hammer, it was determined it was a scallop hammerhead and not a greater hammerhead . The height of the dorsal fin backed up our conclusion.
Greater hammerheads have an extremely tall dorsal fin.
The final chore was left up to myself. I took it upon myself to walk the hammerhead alone to minimize the risk. I have worked with marine animals before and know that when you are in direct contact with them, the best approach is to remain calm and quiet. They can pick up on stress signals and may act violently. With all that in mind, I spent the next fifteen minutes walking the shark.