A 21-year-old man is facing charges in Florida after he allegedly punched a hammerhead shark which later died.

Wildlife officials say they received a call from a witness claiming two men brought an 8ft-long hammerhead shark ashore, the Panama City News Herald reports.

“The white male had his left arm around the shark’s head and was punching it repeatedly in the stomach,” eyewitness Robert Petty said in sworn statement to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC).