Critically endangered great hammerhead shark found dead on Alabama beach was pregnant with 40 pups

A critically endangered great hammerhead shark washed ashore an Alabama beach a week ago, with a subsequent investigation finding the shark was pregnant with 40 pups. 

The City of Orange Beach Coastal Resources Department said in a Facebook post that the 14-foot-long female was pulled to shore by a few individuals and retrieved by department staff. 

"While it was very sad that it passed, we were excited about the rare opportunity of seeing a great hammerhead in such good condition," it said. 

Citing a necropsy from Mississippi State University's Marine Fisheries Ecology group, the department said that the data collected will be helpful in learning about physiological potential to bear offspring in great hammerhead sharks. 

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