VIDEO: Anglers reel in pregnant hammerhead, deliver babies on beach
A group of anglers in the US played midwives to a 12-foot hammerhead shark as they delivered around 20 of the animal's pups on a Florida beach.
The incident took place last week in Sarasota, Florida after 21-year-old local angler Noe Campus hooked into the hammerhead while fishing at night.
After a two-hour battle, Campus got the shark to shore where the group noticed that not only did she have a huge hole in her belly - but that she was pregnant with dozens of pups.
A video posted to Facebook by Campus' friend Ashley Violet shows the anglers removing the almost full-term shark pups from the fish's belly and releasing them into the water.
Unfortunately, mama shark died of her injuries, which the anglers believe were inflicted by another, bigger shark during the tussle to get her to shore.
"I didn't like that it died but there was nothing I could do to save it," Campus told the Houston Chronicle.
"I did what I could to save the little ones."
Hammerhead sharks are a protected species in Florida, meaning that anglers are obliged to release caught specimens unharmed.
"We had to put her back into the water, it's the law, certain types of shark are protected," Campus told the Chronicle.
"Some people might say I cut it but it's not like that."
Despite the best efforts of the angling friends to save the immature sharks, marine experts say their chances of surviving more than a few hours away from the nutrition supply of their mother's uterus were minimal.
