More Animal Abuse Claims Emerge Against Boaters Filmed Dragging Shark
Accusations of animal abuse are piling up for several individuals suspected of filming themselves dragging a shark behind a speedboat last week.
Since the shark footage surfaced, members of the public have shared other disturbing photos and videos that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is now examining as part of its investigation of the incident.
One image shows a man opening a protected Goliath grouper’s mouth while another man pours beer down its throat. A different video captures someone funneling beer through a hammerhead shark’s gills and into another person’s mouth. Yet another video shows a man shooting at fish from a boat.
There are also photos of a man hugging a pelican, as well as stretching out a bird’s wings and grabbing it by its beak.
The FWC has not publicly identified the individuals involved in the shark speedboat video, stating on Facebook that “Since the investigation is active, we can’t confirm the identities of the individuals, and it is too early to speculate as to what, if any, violations took place in this incident.” The agency has also not confirmed whether the people in the additional images and videos are the same people who dragged the shark behind the boat.
However, social media users and local news outlets, including the Miami Herald, have identified two of the individuals from the shark video as Michael Wenzel and Robert Lee “Bo” Benac.
Mark Quartiano, known as “marktheshark” on Instagram, said he received the shark-dragging video from Instagram users “michaelwenzel” and “bearjew428.” The latter account features Benac’s name and includes photos that appear to show him. Screengrabs and captions of other posts showing apparent animal abuse are also linked with the “michaelwenzel” account.
Both accounts have since been deactivated.
Note: The video below is violent and disturbing.
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