Last Thursday, April 20, on a beach in Alabama called Orange Beach, which is located in the Gulf of Mexico, about 26 miles west of Pensacola, Florida, which is known for having several hotels, a shark was found. hammer head about 14 feet dead, on the seashore.
The authorities of this town immediately took the body of the shark to be able to determine what the causes of its death were and when they opened it, they got a big surprise.
According to the report released by the Orange Beach Department of Coastal Resources, the hammerhead shark was a female and was pregnant, since 40 pups were in its stomach. None of them survived.
“While it is unfortunate that it died, we are excited by the rare opportunity to see a hammerhead in such good condition,” authorities wrote in the post they shared on Facebook, along with photos of the animal.
“We immediately called several agencies to see which one could obtain information on this unique specimen. It is very rare to find a pregnant female, and all the data that can be collected will be tremendously valuable to learn more about the fecundity and reproduction of this species,” they added.
As can be seen in the images, various construction machines were needed to remove the shark from the beach and place it on ice.
Scientists from Mississippi State University’s College of Marine Fisheries Ecology performed a necropsy on the shark to find out what caused its death, but have not yet been able to find it.
“We examined the shark’s heart, liver, esophagus, stomach, spleen, kidneys and pancreas in detail, and none of these organs showed any signs of trauma. On the other hand, we found no abnormal lesions or unusual parasites,” the research team reported on April 24.
“We know that the hammerhead shark is especially sensitive to the physiological effects of the stress caused by the captures. Pregnancy aggravates this physiological stress. Therefore, we suspect that the death is the result of fishing mortality,” added the research team.
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