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Massive hammerhead caught, release fails

Posted at 9:29 AM, Jul 17, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-17 10:00:35-04

A fisherman caught a very large shark, with, he says, the intentions of returning it to the ocean, but it didn't quite work out as planned. The huge hammerhead began dying before the catch and release effort was complete.

RELATED: 25' whale shark spotted off Palm Beach coast

The fisherman, Poco Cedillo, reeled in the 14-foot shark Sunday, measured it, and took photos. 

But the photos he posted on social media sparked controversy.

Cedillo says the shark's health began to fail when tried to release it.

He enlisted the help of some experts, but it was too late to save its life, so Cedillo donated 400 pounds of shark meat to a homeless shelter.

"I can honestly say most of us have never caught a shark and purposely want to kill it, especially one this big," Cedillo told KRISTV.com. "All we do is catch sharks, tag them, release them and it's for research -- 100 percent for research."