Observers witnessed an unsettling sight Tuesday afternoon at Bicentennial Beach in Indian Harbour Beach, Fla., according to the Indian Harbour Beach Police Department.
Authorities said that two men caught a shark, hit it over the head with a hammer, and dragged it back into the water to release it.
“By all appearances, sharks look hardy and it would be easy to assume that they can sustain long ‘soak times,’ rough handling, or extensive exposure and still survive when returned to the sea,” said the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation in a guidebook. “But sharks have a few biological weaknesses that make them susceptible to stress and injury, which can reduce their chances at post-release survival.”
These include a “number of sensitive and fragile organs,” in sharks’ heads used to detect prey. If these organs get damaged, released sharks could be unable to locate prey and starve.
While many view sharks as frightening creatures as seen in the “Jaws” film franchise, the World Wide Fund for Nature explained that these top predators are necessary pieces of the marine ecosystem puzzle. Now, they “face their most severe threat from overfishing,” and populations of shark around the world are quickly declining, said the organization.
In some cases, sharks are targeted only for their fins and released back into the water after those fins are removed. This practice has contributed to population declines around 90% in some species in the Gulf of Mexico, according to The Humane Society of the United States.
“It’s like cutting off your limbs and leaving you to bleed to death,” said Rebecca Regnery, deputy director of wildlife at Humane Society International.
The Indian Harbour Beach Police Department did not specify what type of shark was abused by the two men this week. It said that the case was referred to Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) “as this type of incident falls under their jurisdiction.”
According to police, the FWC had begun their investigation into the incident as of Wednesday.
Florida Today released a photo of the incident captured on the live surf cam provided by Harbour House events.
“Oh, I was horrified. I was horrified. I thought it was an absolute abuse of ocean life. It’s everything that we try to preserve here in Indian Harbour Beach,” said Christina Madsen, who was watching the cam and took screenshots that she posted to Facebook, according to the outlet.
“The Indian Harbour Beach Police Department would like to thank those who notified us of this incident so we could take appropriate action,” said police. “We ask everyone to allow FWC to handle this matter and refrain from addressing anyone involved personally.”
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