Charter boat captain reportedly admits to being man in viral video seen stabbing a shark in the water out of ‘revenge’

A Florida Keys man was arrested Thursday and is facing an animal cruelty charge after admitting to being the person seen stabbing a bull shark in the head in a viral Snapchat video

Zane Garrett, 26, of Stock Island, works as a charter captain for Second Nature Charters. Although the website describes him as a captain, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said Garrett does not have a requisite license.

Officials said he was recently “investigated for false representation“ and works under another captain, Local 10 reports.

The stabbing incident allegedly happened on May 22 at the Vandenberg Wreck site, about seven miles off Key West. An anonymous online tipster used the FWC’s alert system to report a bloody video posted to Snapchat of a man repeatedly stabbing the shark in the head, with the caption, “Bud broke my rod.”

The tipster wrote in his “safety concerns” report, “Yes, to weapons for the 9-11 inch filet knife, yes to violent behavior for stabbing a shark repeatedly, yes to being concerned over them being dumb enough to post themselves committing a crime,” according to the outlet.

Officials then interviewed the man who posted the video, who told them that Garrett “explained to the customers that this was the preferred method to deter sharks from stealing their catch. The intention of stabbing the shark was to ‘scare’ other sharks away from the area.”

FWC investigators spoke with Garrett at the Historic Charter Boat Row in Key West on Wednesday, where he allegedly “agreed” that “the practice of stabbing sharks to deter them from stealing fish on charter boats” is ‘common.’”

The FWC said Garrett initially denied having ever stabbed sharks, but upon seeing the Snapchat video, admitted, “Yeah, that’s me.”

Garrett admitted to repeatedly stabbing a shark out of revenge after it stole his fish, despite knowing the act wouldn’t deter the animal or kill it, Local 10 reports.

He acknowledged it takes much more than what was in the video to kill a shark, as he’s killed many of them with guns or by stabbing, often without harvesting them.

Authorities described the incident as an “egregious” act that caused excessive and unnecessary suffering to the shark.

Garrett is being held in the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Key West jail facility on a $10,000 bond. His arrangement is set for June 26.