WPTV.com reports that fishermen were taking advantage of the annual mass shark migrations off the Florida coast by catching sharks at Midtown Beach. While the beaches were closed to swimming, police and lifeguards said that legally there was nothing to prevent fishermen from reeling sharks into the shore.

According to the report, two blacktip sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus) were caught on Friday (03/08/2013) at Midtown Beach. The fishermen swabbed the sharks mouths to provide samples for researchers, who are studying the bacteria present in the mouths of sharks in hopes of improving treatment of wounds resulting from shark bites. Based on the video footage, it appears the fishermen were releasing the sharks after taking the samples.

You can check out the full story at WPTV.com.