Popular hammerhead shark at Camden’s Adventure Aquarium has died

Anchor, a great hammerhead shark at Camden’s Adventure Aquarium, swam his last lap around the vivarium on Sunday.

Aquarium officials announced Anchor’s death on social media and said that they were “deeply saddened to share” the news.

“Anchor was a tremendous ambassador for his species for 20 years, teaching all who met him about shark conservation and the hammerhead’s vital role in the health of coastal marine ecosystems,” the Instagram announcement read. The aquarium did not reveal cause of death.

Great hammerhead sharks are one of the largest shark species in the world, sometimes as long as 20 feet, and Anchor was the largest shark at the aquarium. In 2021, he was nine feet long and, as an older post on the aquarium’s website notes, he was only three feet when he came to the Camden attraction formerly known as the Thomas H. Kean New Jersey State Aquarium.

Great hammerhead sharks are known for their excellent 360-degree vision and exceptional sensory abilities that help them detect prey.

Online, past visitors and “close friends” shared their memories with the long-adored hammerhead, including the fact that some members of the staff called him Waldo.

“Getting to work with him every day was a highlight of my work day,” one Instagram user wrote. “I’ll miss you, buddy.”

“Oh my, this is terrible! I have so many pictures and videos of Anchor. I’ve been going to this place since I was 3 years old and would get so excited every time he appeared,” another one wrote. “I’d say [my] favorite memory is all the jump scares he pulled on me. Every time [I’d] get close to the glass, he’d appear real quickly from out of nowhere. Good times.”