Onlookers laugh as shark is left in pieces after being dragged through the water

HORRIFIC footage has been released of a shark being tied to a boat and dragged through the water while the passengers laugh. Warning: Graphic content.

Warning: Graphic content

A SICKENING video showing a shark being dragged at high speeds behind a boat filled with a group of men as sparked outrage online.

An investigation into the horrific footage is underway by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), though the exact time and place it was filmed is uncertain.

In the video the men can be seen laughing and seeming to enjoy watching the shark being brutally flung around the water, appearing to be attached to the boat by a roped tied around its tail.

“Look, it’s already almost dead,” one of the men says as he points towards the helpless animal.

The video was posted to Instagram by sports fisherman and shark hunter Mark Quartiano, otherwise known as “Mark the Shark”, after the video was reportedly sent to him by one of the men that may have been on the boat.

“I just couldn’t believe it … somebody’s actually sending me maybe an illegal video of a shark being tortured,” he told Florida news station Local10 News.

“I’ve been doing this for 40 years and never even seen anything close to that kind of disrespect to an animal.”

Mark Quartiano has been catching sharks for 40 years off the South Florida coast and says he has never witnessed such a disregard for animal life. Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP

The person who sent the video to Quartiano reportedly followed it up with a picture of the bloody aftermath, showing the shark ripped apart with two men, their faces cut off, holding the remains.

Quartiano has had his fair share of run-ins with animal activists groups over the nature of his work but he said this is an instance in which he agrees an “evil act” has been committed.

“With this video I agree with the PETA people. It should never have been taken. It should never have been done,” he said.

“There’s no sportsmanlike conduct with these guys. They just want to kill something, display it on their Facebook, get more followers. It’s just a horrible act.”

The shark was left in pieces from the horrific act.

It has not been determined if the people responsible for this shocking act actually broke any laws but FWC spokesman Rob Klepper said they are in the process of identifying the men on the boat.

“The FWC has been alerted to a video circulating on multiple social media sites showing a group of individuals travelling at high speed on the water dragging a shark behind the vessel,” Klepper told Local10 News.

“The FWC takes this very seriously and is currently investigating this incident. We are also attempting to identify the individuals in the video and where it took place.”