Three fishermen have been slammed after filming themselves holding down a shark while using its teeth to open a beer.
The shocking footage, shared on TikTok, shows one man grabbing the struggling animal by the nose to hold its head still while another throws a tin at its exposed teeth.
Struggling to to breathe, the shark writhes around and shakes its head to try and dislodge the can of Bud Light from its jaw.
The cruel footage was uploaded to Wyatt Dallison’s TikTok page "OutdoorChaos", which has more than 58,000 followers.
Furious animal lovers condemned the abusive behaviour, which occurred after the group snared the shark while fishing in Florida, The Sun reports.
The gang can be seen laughing and fistbumping while the helpless animal, which is believed to be a sand tiger shark, tries to break free.
Another man involved in the thuggish stunt, Cody Scott, said "absolutely no sharks were harmed in that video", adding that he wasn’t aware it was illegal to remove a shark from the water.
Wyatt, from Pine Grove, West Virginia, said it was "just a bit of fun", adding: "Of course we are not trying to hurt any fish, but I can understand how people can see this as disrespectful.
"It probably wasn’t the greatest idea, but you know at the end of the day we did everything we could to make sure that shark was ok.”
More than 62,000 people have watched the unpleasant footage - but commenters have slammed the behaviour.
One said: "Bro, the shark just got abused. He's trying to breathe."
Another user said: "Taking a sand tiger out of the water. Illegal. Recorded yourself doing a crime. Brilliant."
It’s against the law in Florida to remove the protected species from its habitat as their gills must be submerged in water to allow it to breathe.
A spokesperson for the National Marine Fisheries Service, which is responsible for the supervision of the US's ocean resources, said: "All prohibited sharks must be released in the water with a minimum of harm.
"Practicing careful catch and release is important because it can drastically decrease the number of fish that die after being released.
"Gravity above the water's surface exerts great stress on the fish and lowers its chance of survival after release.
"We encourage possible violations to be reported to the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement Hotline."
