They say one of the meanest species of sharks is the hammerhead. But here’s the interesting part—they’re not exactly sure why.

Did anyone stop to think that maybe it’s because we call him “hammerhead”? We made his name an insult, for crying out loud. Some marine biologist was a bully back on the day they were assigning animal names, and we all just went along with it. There wasn’t even a Boaty McBoatface suggestion they could have latched onto instead? Nothing?

There are some downright ugly animals out there. Platypus. Giant squid. Orangatans. No teasing. No insulting name calling. Even those weird, hairless cats have a name. No, they’re not called Cue Ball Cats or Rogaine Cats. They’re Sphynx Cats. Sounds sophisticated, in spite of how undeniably creepy they look.

But somebody years ago decided to name a species of shark the same thing as a freakish Star Wars alien, and then they wonder why it’s so angry.

This edgy blog brought to you by Shark Week on Discovery.

Categories: Columns