A dead 14-foot great hammerhead shark washed ashore in Orange Beach earlier this week, and researchers found it was “pregnant with 40 shark pups.”

People at the beach pulled the shark ashore Thursday and contacted Coastal Resources, an online city resource for preserving and restoring local beaches.

Workers took the shark off the beach and put it on ice.

“While it was very sad that it passed, we were excited about the rare opportunity of seeing a Great hammerhead in such good condition,” City of Orange Beach Coastal Resources said on Facebook.

“After contacting various agencies to examine the shark, a researcher at Mississippi State University Fisheries Ecology researcher sent a team to perform a necropsy,” Coastal Resources said. “The data could add to scientists’ knowledge of the sharks’ reproductive processes.”

The shark’s cause of death has not yet been determined.

“This was definitely an experience that we won’t forget,” Coastal Resources said, “and we are grateful to have played a small role in this unique case.”