Scientists and beachgoers alike have been stunned by a dead hammerhead shark pregnant with 40 shark pups washing up on an Alabama beach.
The 14-foot shark was pulled ashore at Orange Beach on April 20. Staff from the City of Orange Beach Coastal Resources then removed the shark from the beach and put it on ice, ready for a necropsy.
Scientists then discovered the shark was pregnant with some 40 pups. Hammerheads give birth to live young and can carry between 6 to 42 pups at any one time.
Great hammerhead sharks are listed as a critically endangered species on The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red list. They are not however listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
A petition sent to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries from the Center for Biological Diversity asked for the species to be listed under the act in June 2022. However a Federal Register notice from NOAA said it did not show any "substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted."
Hammerhead sharksare often snagged as bycatch in commercial fishing, but can sometimes be targeted for the shark fin trade. There are no official estimates on how many live in the wild.
On average, they grow up to 13 feet long.
To spot one washed ashore is rare. A pregnant hammerhead is even rarer.
"While it was very sad that it passed, we were excited about the rare opportunity of seeing a Great hammerhead in such good condition," the City of Orange Beach Coastal Resources said in a Facebook post.
Pictures posted by the City of Orange Beach Coastal Resources showed the shark being carried off the beach as sunseekers looked on.
It is not uncommon for marine life to strand on beaches, but it mostly occurs in cetaceans rather than sharks. Often, stranded wildlife will be in poor condition and display signs of illness. Other times, wildlife will have become disoriented and unable to find their way back to deep waters.
But this great hammerhead displayed no obvious signs of illness.
A necropsy initiated by Dr. Marcus Drymon from Mississippi State University Marine Fisheries Ecology, an expert on coastal sharks, has been undertaken and a cause of death has not yet been established.
"While it is sad, it is very rare to find a large pregnant female, and the data collected will be tremendously helpful in learning about Great hammerhead fecundity," the City of Orange Beach Coastal Resources said.
Specimens like this can be used for further scientific research into a species. This can be helpful especially when studying an endangered species that is rarely seen in the wild.
"We are very thankful that our staff was able to get the shark off of the beach, protected from the elements, and iced down within a few short hours of the initial call. This was definitely an experience that we won't forget, and we are grateful to have played a small role in this unique case," the City of Orange Beach Coastal Resources concluded.
Correction 4/27/23 5:04 a.m. ET: This article was corrected to state that hammerheads are not listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, and that there is no data on how many are in the wild.
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Robyn White is a Newsweek Nature Reporter based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on wildlife, science and the ... Read more
