"A Pennsylvania couple on Monday landed the trophy they'd come to Florida for: a nine-foot scalloped hammerhead shark. But not everyone was filled with the same sense of accomplishment. Conservationist Jim Abernethy said he was heartbroken to arrive at Sailfish Marina to find the carcass of the female shark with a hook through its mouth. "What would compel someone to kill this beautiful and endangered animal for absolutely no good reason?" asked Abernethy, who was summoned about 10:30 a.m. by employees at the Palm Beach Shores marina. Hammerheads are renowned fighters when challenged for sport. But once exhausted from the struggle, they frequently drown, experts say..... "The last report of a hammerhead killed in Palm Beach County was April 28, when a pregnant great hammerhead, carrying 35 pups, washed ashore in Delray Beach. It is unclear where that shark was hooked. "They're being driven closer and closer to extinction because of commercial fishing to their fins, and also because of careless and wasteful practices like what we've seen today," Abernethy said. "Sharks don't spawn millions of eggs like other fish. They give birth to a small number of live young, like mammals. This makes them extremely vulnerable and when their populations are depleted, they can't recover."
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