A HOTEL chain has promised disciplinary action after a video showed some of its employees dragging a blue shark out of the sea and forcing it to die on a beach.
Hard Rock Hotels said they were taking the death of the helpless animal seriously which was killed by a group of lifeguards and tourists in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
3 Hotel workers and lifeguards posed with the shark as it lay dyingCredit: Facebook
The shocking video shows the shark caught in a net in the ocean surf with seven men dragging the writhing fish onto the beach.
After using a life ring to restrain the struggling animal, they posed alongside children for sick trophy photographs.
According to The Dodo website, some of the participants, dressed in red t-shirts and blue shorts, were employees of the local Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
3 A man poses with the dead shark after being dragged out the seaCredit: facebook
In a tweet, the global hotel chain said: “As Hard Rock does not condone this behaviour, we are taking this situation seriously. Staff involved will face appropriate action.”
In a statement a spokesperson for the hotel in the Caribbean said that they were aware of the incident and that “corrective measures” are being taken against the employees involved.
They said: “That is absolutely against our standards of protecting animals as we protect our guests.”
A similar incident occurred in Argentina earlier this year when a baby dolphin died after being paraded around like a trophy and stroked by a crowd of sunbathers – who then abandoned it on the sand.
3 Children join lifeguards in posing with shark as a trophyCredit: Facebook
Blue sharks are quick swimmers capable of travelling long distances and are one of the few species of shark that live together in small groups.
On average a blue shark will grow to be 12.5 feet in length but are comparatively smaller to other shark species as they only increase in weight to a maximum of about 450 pounds.