“While it was very sad that it passed, we were excited about the rare opportunity of seeing a Great hammerhead in such good condition,” Orange Beach Coastal Resources said.
Determined to take advantage of such an intact specimen, scientists reached out to researchers at Mississippi State University’s Marine Fisheries Ecology group, who performed a necropsy corpse the following day.They didn’t determine the animal’s cause of death; however, the post-mortem examination did reveal a Jaws-dropping surprise: The hammerhead was reportedly pregnant with 40 pups.
While certainly crestfallen over the deaths of the mama shark and her offspring, the OCBR acknowledged that “the data collected will be tremendously helpful in learning about Great hammerhead fecundity [fertility].” “This was definitely an experience that we won’t forget, and we are grateful to have played a small role in this unique case,” they wrote.
“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,” The City Of Orange Beach Coastal Resources team wrote on their Facebook page.In a similar story last year, beach-goers stumbled upon an 11-foot,Just like in the aforementioned incident, it also had a payload of pups in its stomach.
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