Worried witnesses have captured a group of male beachgoers crowding around the marine animal at Henley Beach in Adelaide, Australia, in what has been defined as a "disturbing" scene by social media users.
Videos circulating online depict one of the men tying a rope around the shark's tail, with passers-by in the background urging him to let the poor creature back into the sea.
“They hooked it with a rope, they tied it around its tail, and they just had it on the beach, taking photos,” a witness told 9NEWS. “They'd beached it and it clearly couldn't breathe. I felt sick to the stomach, and I could see other people, bystanders, there as well. It was just horrible.”
The shark was eventually released back into the sea. Meanwhile, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) South Australia told the Daily Mail that “from the limited information in the videos provided to RSPCA, it appears that these individuals are trying to do the right thing and return the shark to the water.”
“We don't know the context in which this shark came to be on the beach and we don't have the power under the Animal Welfare Act in South Australia to investigate because fish and crustaceans are not protected under the act,” the organization noted.
RSPCA added that it is working on the issue, as “fish and crustaceans are included in the acts of other states.”