Authorities in California have launched an investigation after images of a decapitated shark surfaced on social media, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The images, which are available on Instagram, quickly went viral and sparked outrage online.
The photos' captions said the great white shark's head was found in Newport Beach, but officials say that's not the case.
"Our investigating officers determined it was not photographed at Newport pier," Chris Stoots, of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, told the paper. The image might have not even been taken in the state, he added.
“We are in the beginning stages of any type of investigation,” he said. “We are in the 'how, when, where and what' stage.”
A teenager told CBS Los Angeles he saw a group of men "biting" the shark's head and "throwing it around, sticking it on their head."
"It was brutal to see that they’d treat an animal that beautiful that way,” Clay Kirksey said. “All these men were intoxicated.”
The 16-year-old said the men put the shark on the back of their boat, according to ABC 7.
In California, it's illegal to capture or kill a great white shark. The men Kirksey mentioned, however, told the fish and wildlife department that it was a mako shark, which would mean they were not breaking any laws.
Investigators told CBS they can't determine what kind of shark it is just from the pictures.
Also on HuffPost
