Horrifying footage has been released that appears to show a man beating a shark to death with a hammer over the course of several minutes before dragging it back into the ocean.
The video, first shared by FOX 35 News, was filmed on December 20 by a surfcam at Harbour House, a wedding venue in Indian Harbor Beach, Florida.
It appears to show one man hitting the shark in the head and the gills with a hammer, while another watches. After the man decides that the shark must be dead, he attempts to drag its body into the sea and let the water wash it away, but the breaking waves keep returning it to shore.
"From what we can tell from the video it looks like an angler is trying to remove the hook from a shark before bludgeoning the animal to death with a hammer," John Hourston, the founder of volunteer conservation pressure group Blue Planet Society, told Newsweek.
"Unfortunately, this is fairly typical of the way many shark species are still treated in the U.S. An outdated perception that sharks are somehow evil and should be punished still exists with some sections of society."
A source told FOX 35 News that the shark in the video is a protected lemon shark, though the station was unable to independently confirm that information.
Lemon sharks are classified as "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. They are not permitted to be fished in Florida waters, and are only allowed to be fished commercially in federal waters if the angler has the appropriate permit.
Humans are estimated to kill around 100 million sharks each year. One of the biggest drivers of this number is the harvest of shark fins for use in shark fin soup, especially in China and Vietnam.
Once the fins have been removed, the shark is often thrown back into the ocean before dying of its injuries. Up to 73 million sharks are killed in this manner every year, according to a 2021 study.
Mark Meekan, a marine biologist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, told Al Jazeera in 2018 that this high level of fishing is not compatible with the reproductive biology of sharks, as they are slow-growing and do not have large numbers of young.
Therefore, if the population is drastically reduced, it will take a long time to recover, or, if fishing pressure continues, the population cannot recover at all.
The Nature paper also found that since 1970, there has been a 71 percent decline in the worldwide populations of sharks and rays, largely due to an 18-fold increase in fishing pressure.
"Earth has lost two-thirds of its wildlife since 1970. If we are to have any hope of saving the remaining one-third, much stricter wildlife protection rules will have to be implemented by the likes of the Florida Wildlife Commission," Hourston said.
Over 20 countries have placed bans or restrictions on shark finning in response to the concerns of animal welfare activists and conservationists.
In June 2021, the Senate passed the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act (S. 1106), which banned the buying and selling of shark fins in the U.S. The act was Congress passed as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act on December 15 this year.
"Sharks are sentient creatures who are important to ocean ecosystems. The animal in this particular video appears to be a lemon shark, which is a species that is prohibited from being killed in Florida waters," Kate MacFall, Florida state director for the Humane Society of the United States, told Newsweek.
"Furthermore, Congress just took action to protect sharks by passing the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act as a third of all shark and shark like species are now threatened with extinction."
Outside of finning, a major cause of death for shark species is being caught as bycatch, getting accidentally entangled or caught in fishing gear meant to harvest other species. In the 1990s, 12 million sharks and rays were caught as bycatch each year in international waters alone.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating the Floridian bludgeoning incident, FOX 35 News reported, and is due to release more details later today.
"This case brings to mind the 2017 Florida shark dragging case in which the individuals involved were duly sentenced for animal cruelty. We urge officials to take action to investigate those involved in this latest heartbreaking attack on a shark," MacFall said.
Do you have an animal or nature story to share with Newsweek? Do you have a question about sharks? Let us know via science@newsweek.com.
About the writer
Jess Thomson is a Newsweek Science Reporter based in London UK. Her focus is reporting on science, technology and healthcare. ... Read more
