Officials identify men in video showing shark being dragged behind boat
MIAMI -- Florida wildlife officials say they have identified the men dragging a shark behind a speeding boat in a video that went viral on several social media sites.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials were alerted to the video by a web tip Monday. Rob Klepper is a spokesman for the agency's law enforcement division. He said Wednesday that authorities have identified the men, but are not releasing their names as they continue to put their case together, CBS Miami reports.
The video, which was sent to South Florida shark hunter Mark "the Shark" Quartiano, has angered people across South Florida and elsewhere.
The clip gained attention after Quartiano reposted and criticized it on his Instagram page, adding the hashtags #sowrong and #notcool.
A post shared by THE SHARK HUNTER (@marktheshark) on
"They said, 'Oh, this is pretty cool, look what we did to the shark,' and I go, 'Are you kidding me, man?'" Quartiano said of the men in the video. "And that's when I instantly reposted it and that's when all the feedback started coming out. All the people started going crazy and it went viral."
Klepper said while it wasn't clear whether the men broke any laws, wildlife officials found the actions shown in the video "disheartening and disturbing."