SINGER ISLAND, Fla. (WSVN) — A concerned boater recorded cellphone video showing a group of men dragging a hammerhead shark to shore, Thursday morning.
Leigh Cobb watched in horror as the men hooked and baited the shark off Singer Island, north of West Palm Beach.
Cobb said the group then dragged the struggling marine predator out of the water.
“My adrenaline started, my disgust started,” she said.
They then began to take pictures with the hammerhead.
“Get him in the water!” Cobb is heard screaming in the video.
In total, Cobb said, the shark was on shore for about 45 minutes.
“Gray hammerhead, might as well just kill it,” Cobb is heard saying in the video.
Cobb tags and tracks sharks, so she knew how much danger the shark was in.
“On a public beach, at 9:30 in the morning. We’re seeing a shark blood-baited to come close to the water and then dragged onto the beach,” said Cobb. “It was — I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”
Researchers say hammerheads have a slim chance of surviving after being caught and released.
Cobb said the men finally put the shark back into the water, but she’s worried the shark won’t make it.
She said she managed to follow it in her boat for about 15 minutes, and it didn’t swim far from shore.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, shark fishing is legal. However, fishing for hammerheads is not allowed.
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