Florida Beachgoer Drags Wild Shark By Its Tail For Photo Op

Here's how NOT to treat wildlife.
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They are not photo ops, people. They're animals that deserve better.

In another instance of beachside picture seekers going too far, a man was videotaped in Palm Beach, Florida roughly pulling a shark out of the water by the tail and then posing with it as onlookers clicked away, the Brevard Times reported.

The video (above), posted to Facebook by WPTV Channel 5 reporter Ashleigh Walters, quickly attracted comments ranging from "idiot" to "Someone should drag that guy around in the water just for pictures."

One animal conservation group was quick to condemn the incident.

"Removing a shark from the ocean for the sake of a selfie is highly cruel," Elizabeth Hogan, U.S. Oceans and Wildlife Campaign Manager of World Animal Protection, told The Huffington Post.

"This animal would have been suffocating and unable to breathe the entire time it was kept out of the water," she added. "Many shark populations have declined by more than 90 percent over the last 40 years; posing with sharks on land for photographs needlessly jeopardizes their lives and well-being."

“Removing a shark from the ocean for the sake of a selfie is highly cruel."”

- Elizabeth Hogan, U.S. Oceans and Wildlife Campaign Manager of World Animal Protection

The Brevard Times identified the animal as a bull shark, which is common in the area as the nearby Indian River Lagoon acts as an important nursery habitat for baby bull sharks.

Walters wrote on Facebook that after the video, the shark was "put farther into water ... It did not resurface for several minutes."

As part of a similar incident last week, beachgoers in Argentina incurred social media's wrath when they passed around two rare dolphins for selfies, killing one of them.

"Wild animals should never be made to suffer for entertainment," Hogan said. "We urge people to leave marine animals in their wild ocean homes. If you come across a marine animal that’s been beached or washed ashore, notify your local authorities immediately for assistance."

Also on HuffPost:

Silky sharks in Jardines de la Reina archipelago in Cuba.

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