{"id":726941,"date":"2026-08-04T06:48:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T06:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/726941\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T06:48:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T06:48:11","slug":"mystery-over-death-of-great-hammerhead-shark-washed-ashore-on-north-carolina-beach-with-deep-laceration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/726941\/","title":{"rendered":"Mystery over death of great hammerhead shark washed ashore on North Carolina beach with \u2018deep laceration\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A great hammerhead<\/a> shark has washed ashore on a North Carolina<\/a> beach with a \u201cdeep laceration,\u201d according to local experts. <\/p>\n

The 14-foot female shark was first spotted at Carolina Beach, outside of Wilmington, at around 3 a.m. ET on Sunday, according to the North Carolina Shark Standing Hotline. <\/p>\n

After being seen in the surf multiple times, it washed ashore at around 1:20 p.m., the North Carolina Shark Conservancy told The Independent. <\/p>\n

Local officials disposed of the dead shark after the conservancy\u2019s volunteers took samples from the animal. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe did dispatch our volunteer team out to the shark to take measurements, photos and biological samples for genetics and educational purposes,\u201d a spokesperson for the conservancy said. \u201cWe worked in collaboration with the local municipalities who were extremely responsive and helpful during the whole process.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA great hammerhead shark has washed ashore on a North Carolina beach with a ‘deep laceration,’ according to local experts (North Carolina Shark Conservancy)<\/p>\n

Beachgoer Paige Furr called the shark\u2019s discovery a \u201conce-in-a-lifetime thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like it, so yeah, it was pretty cool but sad, you know, at the same time,\u201d Furr told local outlet WECT<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The North Carolina Shark Conservancy was unable to determine the shark\u2019s cause of death, but offered some clues about the animal\u2019s condition. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt had a very deep laceration through the base of the tail hindering its swimming capabilities as well as fresh puncture wounds in its mouth associated with fishing gear,\u201d the conservancy\u2019s spokesperson said. <\/p>\n

While the shark was considered a large female, the species can grow up to 16 to 20 feet long, the spokesperson noted. <\/p>\n

\"WhileWhile the 14-foot female shark was considered large, the species can grow up to 16 to 20 feet long, according to local experts (AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Great hammerheads can be found in coastal waters around the world, feeding on rays, small sharks, squid and bony fish, according to Oceana, the world\u2019s largest ocean conservation group.<\/p>\n

They grow the fastest and are the largest of all hammerhead species, the group says on its website<\/a>. <\/p>\n

A key feature that differentiates great hammerheads from other hammerheads is their broad, nearly straight cephalofoil \u2014 which is the flattened head of the shark that looks like the head of a hammer. <\/p>\n

The animal\u2019s cephalofoil gives them better vision and electroreception, allowing it to find prey hidden in the sand, according to the conservation group. <\/p>\n

The great hammerhead shark is listed as \u201ccritically endangered\u201d on the International Union for Conservation of Nature\u2019s Red List of Threatened Species. But the animal is not on US federal officials\u2019 endangered and threatened species list. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":726942,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[90,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":["post-726941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=726941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726941\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/726942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=726941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=726941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=726941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}