Your eyes do not deceive you. This strange and disturbing footage of a large shark strapped to the front of a four-wheel drive vehicle was filmed on a suburban road in Western Australia earlier today. 

Just saw this in Safety Bay!! Had to look twice!! 󾌴󾌴

Posted by Julie Wright on Sunday, January 3, 2016

 

“I was driving down [the road] beside a boat and as I got closer to the car I had to double take as I was sure I was looking at a shark tail on the left,” says Perth local Julie Wright, whose young son managed to film the incident.  

The clip has racked up thousands of views since it was posted to the Perth & WA Fishing Reports Facebook page – and, not surprisingly, it's been generating some outraged reactions online. The dead fish, around two metres in length, appears to be a tiger shark.

While shark fishing is a controversial practice, most sharks in Australia can be caught – legally – by both commercial and recreational fishers. In this case, however, it's likely the catch was not above board.

When it comes to tiger sharks, Western Australia's fishing regulations impose a maximum size limit. “The WA regulation that applies requires the 'inter-dorsal fin' measurement to be no more than 700 mm, measured from the front of the first dorsal fin to the point where the rear of the second smaller dorsal fin joins the shark’s body," explains the Department of Fisheries.

Local media reports say the department has since been contacted for comment, and the person responsible could face a steep fine if the size of his catch falls outside of that limit.

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Top header image: Kevin Bryant, Flickr