POMPANO BEACH, Fla. – An 11-foot hammerhead shark washed ashore in Pompano Beach, shocking beachgoers who arrived to the beach Wednesday morning.
Beachgoers stumbled upon the shark’s corpse in the area of 12th Avenue and 14th Street.
Heavy equipment was brought in to remove the shark, estimated to be about 11 feet long, from the sand as a crowd gathered to watch.
“They brought in a Bobcat and moved it out of the water because they didn’t want it to go back into the water,” Pompano Beach resident Kevin Nosal said.
Scientists collected samples and said the shark is an 11-foot, female hammerhead.
“It may have to do with post-release mortality, which means the species in particular gets a little stressed out when it’s caught, it fights really hard,” Hannah Medd said.
Medd said what may have lead to the untimely death of the nearly adult hammerhead was the frazzled shark swimming onto shore late Tuesday night after an encounter with fishermen.
“There is some fishing line in her gills, and from earlier pictures, there was a large hook in the side of her mouth, which indicates she was probably involved in fishing,” Medd said.
Nearby construction crews used heavy equipment to move the shark away from beach crowds before scientists collect more samples and she’s removed and buried.
Some stared in excitement at the rare site -- others realizing the heartbreaking reality of what happened here.
“You never want to see an animal this big laying on the beach,” Nosal said. “This is 11 feet long and over 500 pounds. It’s a female, so it’s always sad when a female passes.”