Coast Guard crews in the Gulf of Mexico have found what they're calling a bootleg fishing net operation about 37 miles north of the Mexican border that left more than 50 sharks dead and decomposing in the ocean.

According to the Coast Guard, "Crews in South Texas located and recovered a gill net with 65 dead sharks Monday. An Air Station Corpus Christi HU-25 Falcon airplane crew located the fishing gear and the Coast Guard Cutter Amberjack crew retrieved the gill net and brought it back to Station South Padre Island."

Coast Guard officials believe the net was abandoned by a Mexican fishing boat. The gill nets are illegal and are described by the Coast Guard as a "wall of death".

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U.S. Coast Guard photo

U.S. Coast Guard photo