Hammerhead Shark Birthed About 20 Pups Before Dying, Witnesses Say

OCEAN CITY — More details emerged on Tuesday about the mature 10-foot female hammerhead caught by surf anglers early Monday morning and the frantic attempt to return at least 20 pups she birthed on the beach back into the ocean.

Just after midnight on Monday, a group, including Jess Rutherford and her brother Chad, of Harford County, along with friend Cory Yoviene of Easton, were surf fishing and hanging out on the beach at 144th Street. About a block south, another group was surf fishing at 143rd Street when they had an unusual and quite substantial catch, a roughly 10-foot female hammerhead.

Jess Rutherford said her group could hear the other group yelling and screaming about their large and unexpected catch and they ran down the beach to see what the commotion was all about. The other group had beached the hammerhead and were attempting to put the ailing shark back into the ocean. Rutherford and her group helped them attempt to put the shark back in the ocean when they made a surprise discovery.

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