Authorities in Florida are conducting an investigation after a seven-foot-long bull shark was discovered dead on a beach towel while wearing sunglasses and looking to be eating.
Noslen Alvarez, the fisherman who discovered the staged shark, is well-known on TikTok for showcasing his early morning fishing adventures to his 11,000 followers.
Alvarez’s video took an unexpected turn on Friday as he reached the Big Carlos Pass drawbridge in Lee County and encountered the distressing sight of a dead shark.
‘I mean seriously look at this,’ Alvarez said in a video while showcasing the bull shark.
‘Who thought this was even funny? They designed it with a heart.’
The bull shark was lying under the bridge halfway on a towel and with sunglasses. A bag of food was placed by its mouth and a black ink signature was left on its side.
‘They left a mess out here [and] killed a shark for no reason,’ Alvarez said while pointing to trash in the distance. ‘There are towels, there is garbage back there.’
‘I don’t know who you are but if you ever see this video, I want you to know that you are a piece of s***.’
@alwayzfishing ♬ original sound – Alwayz
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials along with the Lee County Sheriff’s Department are now investigating the shark’s death.
Meanwhile, other fishermen are outraged.
‘Who in their right mind would do something like that,’ one fisherman told NBC 2. ‘It’s an abuse.’
Another added, ‘That’s just degrading a mammal.’
‘Don’t do anything like that because would you want somebody to do that to you,’ fisherman Justin Panipinto told NBC 2.
If the person who committed the act is caught and found guilty, they will be subjected to 60 days in prison or a fine of up to $500, according to state law.
The police will examine if the shark washed ashore or was killed and brought onto land by people who dressed it up.
It is unknown how the shark got beneath the bridge, but dead marine animals have previously washed up on Florida’s beaches.
Thousands of dead fish were discovered on the beach in Fort Myers in the summer of 2018. The harmful algae that plagued the Gulf Coast at the time were to blame. Since 2017, the Red Tide algal bloom has expanded over the Gulf of Mexico, moving through the sea.
Photos depicted foul-smelling bodies strewn over the sand at a beach in Fort Myers, Florida, and hundreds more washed up along a jetty in Placida, some 50 miles to the north.