A shark has died after a group of tourists dragged it out of the water to take photographs with it.
In a video posted online recorded in the Dominican Republic, a group of men race into the water before pulling it onto the beach with ropes. Some of them were reportedly lifeguards from the nearby Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Punta Cana.
The shark then appears to become tangled in the ropes of a life ring and thrashes violently.
Lifeguards then appear to put a life ring over the sharks's head and prod it with a plank of wood. A series of photographs posted to Facebook by Gary Stokes, an animal activist, show a number of Hard Rock Hotel staff smiling as they lean over the dying shark. Others can be seen holding its tail and making thumbs up gestures while in another picture there are four children.
The blue shark later died as the shocking actions left it tied up in agony in the sun. Hard Rock Hotel said it will take "appropriate action" against those involved.
It added: "That is absolutely against our standards of protecting animals as we protect our guests." Earlier this year, a man was filmed pulling a struggling shark out of the water on a Florida beach and pinning it to the sand in order to be photographed.
In the full length video, captured by local WPTV jourpulnalist Ashleigh Walters at Palm Beach, an unidentified man is seen dragging the shark out of the water as people filmed the scene on their mobile phones.
