A huge shark was caught on a fishing line and brought ashore onto a Florida beach for people to take photos and selfies with the animal.
The shocking incident was reportedly filmed at Miramar Beach near Destin, Florida on March 24.
In the footage, a man catches a large shark on a fishing rod and then brings the animal ashore for tourists to pose for photos with the animal.
A crowd of beachgoers can then be seen cheering and taking photos with the shark. After the tourists have taken selfies with the animal, the man then proceeds to carefully ease the shark back into the water.
The Popularity of ‘Bad’ Wildlife Selfies
According to a study by World Animal Protection, the popularity of wildlife selfies is contributing to the exploitation of animals.
In a 2017 report, researchers at World Animal Protection analyzed wildlife selfies on social media and discovered a 292% increase in the number of wildlife selfies posted on Instagram between 2014 and 2017.
Do you know the difference between a good wildlife selfie and a bad one? pic.twitter.com/VnWrYLT9vV
— World Animal Protection US (@MoveTheWorldUS) May 28, 2021
Furthermore, World Animal Protection described 40% of the images posted as “bad selfies” — meaning someone hugging, holding, or inappropriately interacting with a wild animal.
A “good” wildlife selfie was described as a picture where there is no contact between an animal and a human, and the animal is not being restrained or held in captivity to be used as a photo prop.
In some individual cases, the compulsion of people to pose for photographs with wild animals has caused direct harm to the creatures.
PetaPixel previously reported on a pair of tourists who accidentally killed a seal pup on Great Blasket Island in County Kerry, Ireland, after dragging the animal from the ocean so they could take a selfie with it.
The couple picked up the seal pup from the beach and then hurled it into the ocean before pulling the young animal back to land so they could hold it and take a photo with it. However, as the newborn pup was less than three weeks old, the animal was unable to swim and died during their pursuit to hold it for a selfie.
Meanwhile, last year, people taking selfies with ponies at a tourist hotspot reportedly caused a newborn pony to fall to its death from a cliff.