Watch: Florida Man Uses Blacktip Shark For Selfie Prop

PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL — Just days after a similar stunt involving a dolphin caused outrage in Argentina, a Florida man was captured on video pulling a creature out of the water to pose for a selfie.

In the Florida case, however, the sea creature used as a photo prop was a blacktip shark and not a rare dolphin. The man, who has not been identified, is seen on the video grabbing the shark by the tail and then pulling it up onto the beach. Once on the beach, the man held the creature down and posed for a few pictures before returning the shark to the water.

WPTV reporter Ashleigh Walters, who posed the video to Facebook, said the shark was put back into the water after the photo shoot was over. The shark reportedly washed up on shore and was taken further out into the water, WTSP reported.

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Blacktip sharks have been a common sight in the waters off Palm Beach County in recent weeks. A swarm estimated to include more than 10,000 of the creatures is under study by researchers from Florida Atlantic University. Students at the school study the sharks’ annual migration patterns and have been surprised at the sheer numbers seen off Palm Beach recently.

Blacktips are known to grow up to 6 feet in length and are responsible for many of the Sunshine State’s reported shark attacks. Rather skittish creatures, however, they are more likely to take off when humans are in the water, experts say.

Florida once again led the country and the world in the number of confirmed, unprovoked shark attacks in 2015. There were 30 confirmed attacks in Florida and 98 worldwide. The worldwide number broke the record of 88 set back in 2000. There were no shark-related fatalities in Florida in 2015.

While Florida does led the world in shark attacks, George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File, says the odds are against beachgoers becoming victims. That, however, doesn’t mean commonsense shouldn’t be used in the water.

“The sharks are swimming in and amongst us all the time,” he said. “They’re doing their thing.”

To avoid attacks, Burgess recommends people always remember the fact that humans are not part of a shark’s ecosystem.

“We’re invading their world,” he said. “We’ve got to have some boundaries. (The ocean) is not a backyard or the YMCA pool.”

It remains unclear if the man broke any laws pulling the blacktip shark onto shore. While some sharks, including sandbar and great whites, are prohibited from harvest in Florida, blacktips do not enjoy similar protections. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, blacktips are harvestable and have no minimum size or limit.

Since the shark appears to have been landed by a hook and line, FWC spokesman Gary Morse said it’s likely no laws were broken. As long as the man was properly licensed, pulling it out of the water isn’t a crime.

“There are of course, other considerations,” Morse said. “Handling sharks is dangerous to the shark as well as the angler. Sharks have no boney skeletal structure as their body is supported by cartilage, so removing a shark entirely from the water could cause damage to its internal organs.”

To find out more about shark regulations in Florida, visit FWC online.

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