KAPAA, Hawaii >> A six-foot-long blue shark beached herself on Kauai and gave birth to several pups before dying. 

State aquatic biologist Don Heacock believes the shark was caught by a longliner or other fisherman and discarded.

Heacock told The Garden Island newspaper the fish had three or four knife holes in the top of its head. At first glance, they looked like shark teeth bites but they weren’t. Heacock thinks they were caused by fishing hooks.

The shark gave birth and died on Sunday in front of Pono Kai Resort in Kapaa.

Blue sharks tend to spend their lives away from shore in deep water.

Heacock says the shark’s pups were born prematurely and they have a low chance of surviving.