On one of the submersible's first test voyages, Hawkes' team encountered a group of hammerhead sharks.

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The Coast Guard cutter ships Tybee and Sanibel are coming from Woods Hole near the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, along with the Hammerhead, a smaller 87-footer.

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On Monday, the decision to increase protection for oceanic whitetips, porbeagle and hammerhead sharks had only scraped past the two-thirds majorities required by a handful of votes.

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