ET Sunday and Came Ashore at 1:20 P.m., According to the North Carolina Shark Conservancy

The female shark was first spotted in the surf around 3 a.m. ET Sunday and came ashore at 1:20 p.m., according to the North Carolina Shark Conservancy. Volunteers took measurements, photos, and biological samples before local officials disposed of the carcass. Beachgoer Paige Furr called it a "once-in-a-lifetime thing, telling WECT, "I've never seen anything like it, so yeah, it was pretty cool but sad, you know, at the same time.

The conservancy noted the shark had a deep laceration through the base of its tail, hindering swimming, and fresh puncture wounds in its mouth linked to fishing gear. While large, the species can reach 16 to 20 feet. Great hammerheads, listed as critically endangered by the IUCN but not on U.S. federal lists, inhabit coastal waters worldwide, feeding on rays, small sharks, squid, and bony fish. Their broad, nearly straight cephalofoil enhances vision and electroreception for finding buried prey.