Influencer apologizes for cooking and eating great white shark

A Chinese influencer who was fined $18,500 for cooking and eating a Great White shark has said she was ‘fooled’ into it.

Food blogger, who uses the name Tizi online, has almost eight million followers on social media, but she found herself going viral for all the wrong reasons last year.

In a clip uploaded to Douyin in July last year, Tizi was seen collecting the shark from a seafood shop before unwrapping it.

In the video, Tizi said: “It may look vicious, but its meat is truly super tender.”

Tizi goes on to cut the fish in half, before barbecuing its tail and boiling its head in a broth.

She also shared the meal with local villagers who all praise the food, while Tizi said: “This is so yummy!”

The video was met with a huge backlash online, with some social media users she’d eat ‘literally anything’ to gain views.

Commenting on the clip at the time, one wrote: “I’ve seen her videos before. They were outrageous. She also ate a crocodile and a golden giant salamander. It was extremely disturbing.”

While someone else said: “She literally eats anything to grab eyeballs. I was horrified when seeing her eat a crocodile tail once.”

Douyin

In the midst of the backlash, authorities launched an investigation after it was claimed that the shark she tucked into was a Great White - a species protected under Chinese wildlife laws.

Tizi denied that she had done anything wrong, telling local news outlet Red Star News: “I bought it legally and I am looking for a lawyer. These people were talking nonsense.”

Despite her denials, last month, authorities hit Tizi with a $18,500 (125,000 yuan) fine after DNA testing on remnants of the carcass revealed it was a great white.

Following the fine, Tizi released a new video in which she claims she was duped into eating the protected species.

Douyin

Tizi placed the blame with the online seafood seller, saying they had told her it was not a protected species and was fine to eat.

She said: “Some species of sharks could be eaten legally and that was what I assumed when I filmed the video. I was truly fooled.”

Tizi also said she owed people an apology and said she had spent time studying marine life during her break from social media.

“I would like to make up for my shortcomings because as someone who shoots videos, I should be spreading correct information,” she added.

“I reflected on my own mistakes and will keep learning new knowledge about marine life.”