14-foot hammerhead shark found dead on Alabama beach was hiding bittersweet surprise

A 14-foot great hammerhead shark washed up on an Alabama beach — and investigators were in for an even bigger surprise when they cut it open.

“The shark was pregnant with 40 shark pups!” the City of Orange Beach Coastal Resources reported in a Facebook post.

None of the dozens of pups survived.

The massive shark was discovered Thursday, April 20, on a busy stretch of beach lined with multi-story hotels. Orange Beach is on the Gulf of Mexico, about 26 miles west of Pensacola, Florida.

It’s still a mystery why the shark died, officials said. Photos shared by the city do not show it suffered traumatic injuries prior to coming ashore.

“While it was very sad that it passed, we were excited about the rare opportunity of seeing a great hammerhead in such good condition,” city officials wrote.

“We immediately started contacting various agencies to see who had availability to come gather data from this unique specimen. ... It is very rare to find a large pregnant female, and the data collected will be tremendously helpful in learning about Great hammerhead fecundity (reproduction).”

Heavy construction equipment was used to move the shark off the beach before it was quickly put on ice, officials say.

A team of researchers from Mississippi State University’s Marine Fisheries Ecology performed a necropsy, hoping to find a cause of death, officials said.

“We examined, in detail, the shark’s heart, liver, esophagus, stomach, scroll valve, spleen, kidneys, and pancreas, and none of these organs exhibited any signs of trauma. Moreover, there were no abnormal lesions or unusual parasites,” the research team reported April 24.

“We know that great hammerheads are especially prone to the physiological effects of capture stress. ... Pregnancy compounds this physiological stress. Consequently, we suspect death was the result of fishing mortality.”

The shark’s stomach was empty, the researchers said.

Great hammerhead sharks average 18 feet in length, but can reach as much as 20 feet, the Shark Research Institute reports. Hammerhead mothers have an 11-month gestation period and give birth in the late spring and summer, the Georgia Aquarium says.

“The shark feeds mostly at dusk,” the Shark Research Institute reports. “A shark was seen to use the underside of its hammer-shaped head to bludgeon and pin a stingray to the seabed, then the shark pivoted and bit a chunk out of the ray’s pectoral fin.”

This story was originally published April 24, 2023 at 4:38 AM with the headline "14-foot hammerhead shark found dead on Alabama beach was hiding bittersweet surprise."