Shark dies after tourists pull it out of the water and take photos

A series of photographs were posted to social media by Gary Stokes, showing the tourists posing with the anima. Photo / Gary Stokes Facebook

WARNING: Disturbing content.

Shocking footage has emerged of a shark being dragged out of the water so a group of tourists could take photographs with it.

The video, taken in the Dominican Republic, shows the group wading out to the shark which was in quite shallow water, and then pulling it onto the shore with the aid of ropes.

The animal is seen thrashing along the beach in a desperate attempt to escape. Some of the men then drag it along by the tail before poking it with a piece of wood and placing a life ring over its head.

The shark reportedly died after the ordeal.

A series of photographs were posted to social media by Gary Stokes, showing the tourists posing with the animal, including one with children.

In a Facebook post, Stokes described how the shark was "tortured to death" and says the behaviour was "absolutely disgraceful". There are reports some of those involved are lifeguards from the nearby Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Punta Cana.

A hotel spokeswoman told the Independent "corrective measures" are being taken against the employees involved.

"That is absolutely against our standards of protecting animals as we protect our guests," she said.

It comes after footage emerged earlier this year of another man dragging a shark from the sea so that he could pose for photos with it. In the video, which was taken by WPTV news anchor Ashleigh Walters and uploaded to Facebook, a beachgoer pulled the shark from the ocean and dragged it onto the sand by its tail.

The shark can be seen desperately trying to make its way back to the water but the man wrestled with it, holding it down while several onlookers laugh and gathered to take photos.

Days earlier, a disturbing video surfaced of a rare baby dolphin being passed around between tourists in Argentina. The Franciscans dolphin eventually died from overheating after holiday-makers were done taking selfies with it.