Animals

One of the most popular surf spots in Southern California is teeming with man-eating sharks -- video clearly shows a handful of great whites lurking just under the surface as surfers catch waves.

Ya gotta see the footage from San Onofre State Beach ... there are 4 to 5 sharks swimming between the waves with more than a dozen surfers nearby, or in some cases, paddling right over the potentially killer fish.

The incredible video was captured by photog Kevin Christopherson's drone Friday over San Onofre -- one of SoCal's surf meccas -- and most surfers don't seem concerned about what's swimming underneath them.

As you can see, sharks are there as surfers zip over them on waves ... and the predators are swimming nearby while surfers bob in the water, waiting for the next break.

These sharks are pretty big too ... because they're as big or bigger than the surfers' longboards.

Fact is, San Onofre State Beach is known to be a breeding ground for great whites ... so, most, if not all, of these surfers are aware of the risk.

Still, getting shark sightings like this on camera is a rarity.

LaMarcus Aldridge just got a new massive back tattoo featuring an image of the Joker ... and check it out -- it's so seriously awesome!!!

The former NBA star hit up Andres Ortega and his Onder Ink team last month to get the piece done ... and after sitting under the needle for 10 hours, most of the backside of the hooper's 6'11" frame was completely covered in ink.

On the bottom of the tattoo, Aldridge got Batman's nemesis tatted because, according to Ortega, the former San Antonio Spurs forward said there was a time in his life when nobody believed in him -- and this was his way of laughing at those detractors.

Aldridge also got images of a lion and its cub to represent the relationship he has with one of his children. The skyline of Dallas -- Aldridge's hometown -- was also added to the top of the artwork.

The 7-time NBA All-Star got his jersey No. 12 inked too ... and Ortega tells TMZ Sports he added religious imagery to honor his faith as well as family members who have passed.

Paris Hilton is getting called out by PETA for getting her new dog from a breeder instead of an animal shelter or adoption service ... and PETA's not pulling punches.

A rep for the animal rights organization tells TMZ ... "Paris Hilton has apparently been living under a rock for the past decade, because a day in an animal shelter would have shown her just how many Chihuahuas already need homes, and five minutes on Petfinder would turn up thousands more, including puppies."

The outrage comes after Paris showed off her latest addition to her family of pets ... a teacup chihuahua, who Paris says is related to her late dog, Harajuku Bitch.

Paris apparently got the pooch from Foufou's Teacup Puppies Inc ... according to their website, they get puppies from breeders, and that's the issue for PETA.

The PETA rep adds ... "PETA knows that retail therapy is what Paris loves best, but we ask her to keep the shopping to baubles and bags and give an animal a chance to be 'sliving' by adopting."

It's unclear if Paris bought the dog herself or if the breeder gave her the pooch as part of a collab ... but regardless, PETA isn't happy with how Paris is promoting the biz. These dogs go for around $6k and up.

Paris' new puppy is getting a similar reaction from PETA as Pete Davidson did when he recently got a Cavapoo puppy from a pet store.

Pete later went scorched earth on PETA, leaving an expletive-laden voicemail in response.

Patrick Mahomes' wife, Brittany, has found herself in the crosshairs of animal rights activists this week ... after she went on a vacation playdate with a dolphin.

Brittany had the meetup with the marine mammal several days ago while out in Hawaii with the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback ... but after she posted photos of the swim on her Instagram on Monday, fans went on the attack.

Dozens have left comments on the NFL star's wife's social media page ... ripping her for the outing -- and calling it cruel to the dolphin. PETA later jumped in, too.

"We know you love companion animals," the activist org. wrote in a lengthy note on Brittany's page, "but we hope to see you extend your compassion to marine life too."

In her photos, Brittany can be seen hugging, petting and even kissing the dolphin. At one point during her swim with the animal, she brought her 2-year-old into the water to get close to the sea creature as well.

In its note, PETA told Brittany none of it was healthy for the dolphin ... adding, "These types of interactions are dangerous for them AND us."

Brittany clearly didn't seem to believe she did anything wrong ... she captioned her pictures with "Ever snuggled a 400lbs dolphin?" She added a heart-eyed emoji as well.

She hasn't addressed the swim and its backlash publicly further.

Vanilla, the chimpanzee, who spent 28 years in an animal testing lab before finally getting a new life, is touching people's hearts, and inspiring them to open their wallets.

Save the Chimps, an animal sanctuary in Florida shared a video on social media showing Vanilla being introduced to other chimps and seeing open skies for the first time in her life ... and it's sparked a huge wave of interest and donations.

A rep for Save the Chimps tells TMZ ... Vanilla's viral moment brought in $48,600 in donations in just 4 days, plus a wave of new social media followers.

For context, Save the Chimps tells us they got $2,700 in donations the week before Vanilla went viral ... so the bump really stands out.

Save the Chimps says part of the $48,600 comes from merch sales, and about $10,000 has been donated from people who are adopting chimpanzees living in their sanctuary, which is one of the largest in the world.

Volunteer numbers are up too, and they're joining some existing celebrity supporters ... like Pink, Paul McCartney, Jane Goodall, Alan Cumming, and Anjelica Huston.

The money's going to be put to good use ... Save the Chimps has 226 chimps, including Vanilla, and because these animals can live well into their 60s, care is not cheap. The sanctuary says donations are part of a $9 million annual budget that pays to maintain a 150-acre property with 12 islands where different groups of chimps live, plus daily meals, veterinary care, and more.

There will be two versions of Oneil Cruz out on the diamond when the Pirates star makes his return later this season ... TMZ Sports has learned he just got a few new tattoos put on his body -- including one of himself!!

We're told the Pittsburgh shortstop -- who's been out since April while dealing with a broken leg -- wanted to commemorate his meteoric first few seasons in the Big Leagues with some tats ... so he hit up Jaime Ortiz to get the art put down.

The 24-year-old baseball player -- regarded as one of the brightest young stars in the sport -- sought to get a photo of himself, a lion, and an MLB ball ... and Ortiz certainly delivered.

Check out the images -- the super realistic lion and the tat of Ortiz sit side by side on Cruz's (ultra valuable!) right shoulder. The photo of the baseball, meanwhile, was placed on one of his forearms.

Ortiz, a Zen Ink Tattoos artist, tells us ... Cruz wanted the lion because it symbolizes leadership and being a protector -- while maintaining humility at the same time. The image of Cruz in a Pirates jersey, Ortiz said, represents a reminder of his roots and his prime.

As for the baseball, Ortiz tells us that was "all about his passion to the game!"

"It describes it all by itself," he added.

Cruz sat for 14 hours over two days to get it all done ... and he was clearly thrilled with the end result, posting it to his social media page earlier this week.

A huge hammerhead shark circled a couple of paddleboarders off the coast of Florida ... and the terrifying encounter was all caught on video.

The footage -- shot Sunday between the Bahamas and Lake Worth, FL -- first shows a woman on a paddleboard in the middle of the ocean being followed by a shark ... with a fin rising above the surface and getting super close to her board.

The shark appears to circle the paddleboard, then it goes over and checks out another paddleboarder.

Somehow, the woman keeps her cool through it all, paddling to a boat and hopping in the vessel ... and the shark disappears into the depths.

The woman, Malea Tribble of Fort Lauderdale, told FOX 35 News in Orlando she felt a few taps on the bottom of her paddleboard ... but she didn't realize it was a shark until her husband spotted the fin.

Folks on the boat think it was a hammerhead shark ... and it seems to be one curious fish.

Stephen King is the undisputed king of horror ... but his fictional storylines turned into a real-life nightmare at his home in Maine, with the author as the central character.

The fabled novelist of classics like "Pet Sematary" and "The Shining" got an uninvited visitor to his Bangor, Maine home Thursday, when a deer impaled itself on his spiked fence in front of his gothic mansion.

TMZ obtained a photo of the white-tailed fawn draped over the sharp spikes in the center of the wrought iron fence. The spikes drove into the midsection of the helpless animal whose legs were half inside and half outside King's property.

A rep for the Bangor PD tells us ... the one-year-old buck apparently tried to jump over the fence, but it was too high. The deer then attempted to maneuver through the middle portion of the metal barrier, but, unfortunately, the poor thing got skewered.

Unclear if King was home at the time ... but we know he didn't call cops. A woman driving by spotted the injured deer and dialed 911.

Police responded and put the deer out of its misery, shooting it. Per state law, officers are authorized to kill any wild animal they deem to be in distress.

It appears the house is a vacation home for Stephen and his wife. It gets its share of tourists who come by to gawk at the mansion.

We reached out to King's rep for comment ... so far no word back.

Two University of Buffalo football players have been charged with animal abuse ... after prosecutors say they were seen on video earlier this month beating a 4-year-old miniature Poodle with a leather belt.

According to the Erie County District Attorney's Office ... the incident happened at around 9 PM on June 13 inside an apartment in Amherst, N.Y.

Authorities allege 19-year-old Blake Hiligh, a cornerback, and 20-year-old Zachary Pilarcek, a tight end, filmed themselves striking the dog repeatedly ... in what was an apparent attempt to discipline the animal. Prosecutors say the two then uploaded the footage to social media.

On June 14, prosecutors say they hit both men with one misdemeanor charge of overdriving, torturing and injuring animals.

Officials also say the poodle, named Kobe, was seized and transported to a local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ... where it received treatment for abrasions and bruises.

Both Hiligh and Pilarcek appeared in court for their arraignment on Thursday ... and pleaded not guilty to the charges. Following the proceedings, Hiligh's attorney told a group of reporters, "My client regrets the actions."

"We love our dogs," the lawyer added. "We love our pets. Sometimes they do frustrate us. Sometimes we do discipline them sometimes. I don't believe it was in a cruel manner."

Both Hiligh and Pilarcek have been dismissed from the UB football team over the allegations.

"The UB football program has zero tolerance for this type of behavior,” UB football head coach Maurice Linguist said.

"After learning about this incident, I immediately suspended the two young men from all team activities before permanently dismissing them from the program earlier this month. At UB, not only do we expect our student-athletes to excel on the field and in the classroom, but we also expect them to be outstanding citizens in our community."

In what could pass as an outtake from "Jaws" -- a guy was bitten by a shark and dragged off his boat during a fishing trip in Florida last week ... and the video is wild.

The clip shows a group of fishermen in the Florida Everglades, anchored in a marsh. You see one guy's rod in the water, and another guy (who's on camera) bends down and starts to lean over the side of the small boat they're all in.

As the dude starts to consider putting his hand in the water, one of his buddies tells him it's probably not a good idea. He's incredulous though, saying nothing will happen.

However, as soon as his fingers hit the water, a shark comes up and takes a bite! The fisherman yelps out in pain, getting dragged in and desperately tries getting back on board.

Park rangers responded to the scene, and reports say the guy was airlifted to the hospital -- where he was treated for a hand injury.

PETA didn't find Drew Rosenhaus' wrestling match with a shark this week impressive, amusing or entertaining ... telling TMZ Sports it wishes the NFL super agent would have just left the creature alone.

The animal rights org sounded off on the 56-year-old just days after he was seen on video yanking a dusky shark by its tail in the middle of the ocean near Miami ... straight-up calling the guy a "wannabe macho man."

"Spending so much time around top athletes must have Drew Rosenhaus feeling like he has something to prove," PETA said in a statement.

"Aquatic animals already suffer at the hands of anglers who impale them, yank them out of the water, and gut them or leave them to suffocate, so they don't need some wannabe macho man yanking on their tails for a few Twitter 'likes.'"

Rosenhaus, though, hasn't appeared to be remorseful for his actions ... in fact, just a couple hours after he posted the first video of him with the sea beast, he threw up another one showing him putting his hands on the animal again.

He also seemed to gloat about it all in one of the vid's captions ... writing, "Went fishing with [Tyreek Hill] ⁩today and decided to get up close to this Dusky Shark."

Carson Wentz may be panned for his accuracy on the field, but not so much off it ... the NFL free agent QB took down a black bear with a bow and arrow, before posing with the animal.

As you might expect, reaction was ... umm, mixed.

The former Super Bowl champ showed off his kill on Friday with a photo of a black bear and his Hoyt Archery bow on a grassy field in the Last Frontier.

"Got the opportunity to spot and stalk black bear in one of our new favorite places on earth— Alaska!" Wentz wrote in the caption.

"Incredible trip and an incredible animal!"

Despite the hunt being totally legal in Alaska, the photo didn't sit well with a lot of people, who expressed their frustrations in the IG comments.

"Bro come on man. How can you take a living animal’s life like that? Ridiculous," one fan wrote while others said they were going to unfollow the former Eagles and Colts quarterback on Instagram.

Fans of Wentz will know this isn't his first kill. Carson grew up hunting in North Dakota. In fact, the 30-year-old hunted a deer in Indiana a few months ago and shared the footage on his YouTube page.

Wentz isn't the only NFL pro who enjoys hunting ... Jay Cutler, DeAngelo Williams and Derek Wolfe, who took down a mountain lion that was a threat to a local community earlier this year, are also avid hunters.

The miracle children who survived a fatal plane crash and 40 days in an unforgiving Colombian jungle have been rescued, but the rescue dog that first located them is MIA.

Wilson the rescue dog actually found the kids days before rescuers got to the kids, ages 13, 9, 4 and 11 months. Wilson stayed by the children's side for several days, but when rescuers located the children, Wilson was gone.

The 13-year-old, Lesly, drew a picture from her hospital bed of her experience in the jungle, and Wilson was right there, front and center. The dog gave the kids comfort and hope.

No one knows where Wilson went. It's possible he left to find rescuers to lead them to the children, but it's simply a mystery. The kids were rescued June 9, and the dog hasn't been seen since. Nevertheless, there's a rescue team out there, trying to find the canine hero.

Tyreek Hill is under police investigation, TMZ Sports has confirmed ... after the NFL star was accused of getting physical with somebody in Miami on Sunday.

Cops confirmed the probe to us on Tuesday ... though they did not disclose further details of the case, only saying they were investigating an alleged assault/battery involving the Dolphins player.

According to Local 10 News, however, the alleged incident happened at Haulover Marina after Hill got into a dispute with an employee of a charter company at the popular South Florida boating spot.

The outlet reported Tuesday the 29-year-old receiver was accused of putting his hands on the employee at some point during the altercation.

Hill has been seen on social media on boats multiple times this week ... on Father's Day, he shared a snap of him while out on the water on his IG story -- and on Tuesday, his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, showed the two were at sea fishing near a shark.

But, neither Hill nor Rosenhaus have publicly commented on the police probe.

Hill has been the subject of police investigations before -- most notably, back in 2019, he was named in a child abuse report ... though he was never charged with a crime in that case.

Hill has become arguably the best wideout in the NFL ... last season -- his first with Miami -- he tallied 1,710 receiving yards and seven receiving TDs.

Drew Rosenhaus went from being a proverbial shark on Tuesday ... to wrestling an actual one -- and the wild scene was all captured on video!!!

The NFL super agent's chaotic meeting with the sea beast happened just minutes ago while he was out fishing with his client, Dolphins superstar Tyreek Hill.

You can see in footage that Rosenhaus just posted to his Twitter page ... as he was out in the ocean snorkeling, a shark pulled up to the boat -- but instead of swimming away in fear, he went toward it!!

People on the ship urged Drew to think twice ... but the man who's helped negotiate over $7 BILLION in NFL contracts put his hands on the shark nonetheless, and then pulled it toward him!

Rosenhaus could be seen in the footage then urging people on the boat to then take a picture.

One of the best parts of the clip? One of the fisherman asked Hill if he wanted to join in on the water party with Drew ... and Tyreek's answer was priceless.

"Hell nah!" the wide receiver exclaimed.

It turns out Max Verstappen's dominant win at the Canadian Grand Prix was even more impressive than it looked ... 'cause the Formula One superstar completed the race with a dead bird stuck to his car!!

The Red Bull driver ran over the poor thing during Lap 11 of Sunday's event in Montreal ... which he hilariously detailed to his team on the radio.

But the animal apparently wanted one last joyride before going to bird heaven ... 'cause it got trapped in the right brake duct of Verstappen's car, where it remained until the checkered flag was waved.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner praised the champ's ability to handle the unique situation ... saying it was "a very, very controlled race by him."

It's not the first time the 25-year-old has had some run-ins with animals mid-race -- he also hit a squirrel at the Italian GP in 2021.

Sunday's win over Fernando Alonso (second) and Lewis Hamilton (third) marked Verstappen's sixth first-place finish in eight races so far in 2023 ... which has him sitting comfortably at the top of the Driver Standings over teammate Checo Perez.