{"id":801183,"date":"2026-08-03T13:22:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T13:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/801183\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T13:22:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T13:22:12","slug":"hammerhead-shark-found-dead-on-carolina-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/801183\/","title":{"rendered":"Hammerhead shark found dead on Carolina Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hammerhead shark found dead on Carolina Beach<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wyff4.com\/news-team\/42dcc6f1-07fb-42c6-a24d-d4bf38e6175e\" aria-label=\"Stephanie Moore profile page\" class=\"css-15eikfp\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/42dcc6f1-07fb-42c6-a24d-d4bf38e6175e_1757541458.png\" width=\"48\" height=\"48\" alt=\"Stephanie Moore\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/a>WILMINGTON, N.C. \u2014<\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"0\">Beachgoers at the north end of Carolina Beach, N.C., were shocked Sunday afternoon to find a massive scalloped hammerhead shark dead on the sand.   <\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"1\">Due to the shark\u2019s massive size, emergency crews from Ocean Rescue, the Carolina Beach Fire Department, and the police department worked together to bring the animal fully onto the shore. Experts confirmed the shark was already dead when it was retrieved.  <\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0b9e34a4-cebf-4641-acbb-e8e8410bf875.jpg\" alt=\"Image no longer available\" width=\"100%\" height=\"auto\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" draggable=\"true\" class=\"css-fphibt\"\/><img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0b9e34a4-cebf-4641-acbb-e8e8410bf875.jpg\" alt=\"Image no longer available\" width=\"100%\" height=\"auto\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"css-hr9vxw\"\/><\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"3\">At 14 feet long, the female scalloped hammerhead was extremely large. Members of the North Carolina Shark Conservancy quickly began collecting vital measurements and tissue samples.  <\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/48b350be-56ef-4efa-92a8-e9257b304510.jpg\" alt=\"Image no longer available\" width=\"100%\" height=\"auto\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" draggable=\"true\" class=\"css-fphibt\"\/><img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/48b350be-56ef-4efa-92a8-e9257b304510.jpg\" alt=\"Image no longer available\" width=\"100%\" height=\"auto\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"css-hr9vxw\"\/><\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"5\">&#8220;We had some volunteers come out and did a workup, took some basic measurements, and then tissue samples,&#8221; said Taylor Evans, CEO of the North Carolina Shark Conservancy.  <\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"6\">While the exact cause of death is still unknown, researchers noted evidence of fishing interaction, including a deep cut at the base of the shark\u2019s tail fin and a puncture mark near its jaw.  <\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/29ff5f36-e8b8-442a-b0c2-c4cb27de0592.jpg\" alt=\"Image no longer available\" width=\"100%\" height=\"auto\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" draggable=\"true\" class=\"css-fphibt\"\/><img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/29ff5f36-e8b8-442a-b0c2-c4cb27de0592.jpg\" alt=\"Image no longer available\" width=\"100%\" height=\"auto\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"css-hr9vxw\"\/><\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"8\">&#8220;There was some evidence of fishing interaction, but we can&#8217;t for sure say that was the cause of it,&#8221; Evans said.  <\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"9\">Local officials later removed the shark\u2019s body from the sand for proper disposal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hammerhead shark found dead on Carolina Beach WILMINGTON, N.C. \u2014 Beachgoers at the north end of Carolina Beach,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":801184,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[55463,38343,340057,340058,340063,340061,18535,340055,2256,340059,324371,290550,340065,96392,79,340064,340056,340062,79374,340066,340060,295596,201],"class_list":["post-801183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-beachgoers","tag-carolina-beach","tag-carolina-beach-fire-department","tag-carolina-beach-police","tag-female-hammerhead","tag-fishing-interaction","tag-hammerhead-shark","tag-hammerhead-shark-found-dead-on-carolina-beach","tag-north-carolina","tag-north-carolina-shark-conservancy","tag-north-end","tag-ocean-rescue","tag-proper-disposal","tag-scalloped-hammerhead","tag-science","tag-shark-body","tag-shark-found-dead","tag-shark-measurements","tag-sunday-afternoon","tag-tail-fin","tag-taylor-evans","tag-tissue-samples","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=801183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/801184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}