A 14-foot great hammerhead shark was found dead in the Gulf of Mexico off the shore of Orange Beach on Thursday.  The female was discovered to be pregnant with 40 pups.

Coastal Resources were called immediately by passers by who found the shark in the shallow waters and brought it to shore.

Dr. Drynom from Mississippi State University Marine Fisheries Ecology , a researcher who focuses on coastal sharks, sent a team to perform a necropsy on the shark.

The cause of death has not yet been determined. According to a statement from the City of Orange Beach Coastal Resources, it is very rare to find a large pregnant female shark. The data the research team were able to collect will be helpful in learning more about the species.

Last August, beachgoers filmed a hammerhead shark feeding on a school of sting ray close to the shore.