ANIMAL rights campaigners are hunting a foolhardy angler seen squirming NAKED on the back of a shark in what appears to be a bizarre trophy photo.

They say the weird pose is 'disrespectful' to the ocean predator - and are demanding the man is named and shamed for his 'humiliating' behaviour.

3 Animal rights campaigners now want to name and shame this man

3 University of Florida American football coach Jim McElwain has denied it is him following a flood of false internet rumours Credit: Getty Images

“That’s disrespectful to the shark,” said Marie Levine, executive director of the Shark Research Institute.

TV conservationist Anneka Svenska urged her followers to find and identify the man, writing on Twitter: 'Where is the humour in humiliating slaughtered animals?' Another person keen to find the identity of the freaky fisherman is University of Florida American football coach Jim McElwain.

He's been forced to put out a denial it is him in the pic following a flood of false internet rumours pointing the finger in his direction. "Well, first and foremost, I don't know who it is, but it isn't me," said McElwain. "In the world we live in, what is a story? I just know this - it isn't me." Others pointed the finger at notorious 'trophy' hunter Jimmy John Liautaud - who is infamous for posing next to animals he has just killed. Liautaud’s love of hunting and trademark toothy grin made him a possibility but he also says it isn't him.