Beauty Pageant Contestant Marisa Butler Faces Criticism Over Shark Tagging

— -- Beauty pageant contestant Marisa Butler is facing criticism for her hobby -- tagging sharks.

The Miss Maine USA hopeful says she does it for conservation, but critics take issue with the way she does it, pulling sharks onto the beach with her bare hands.

The 21-year-old serves as a volunteer for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and she says she’s tagged more than 30 sharks.

“Not a lot of people view sharks as something that needs to be saved,” Butler said. “Seventy to 100 million sharks are killed yearly, and people just don’t know about it.”

Some shark experts say Butler’s efforts may be doing more harm than good.

“The simple fact that they’re pulling the shark out of the water on the beach leaves little hope that this shark is actually going to survive,” shark expert and conservationist Jim Abernethy said.

Butler, meanwhile, argues that bringing the sharks to shore is the safest way for her and fellow volunteers to tag them -- a monitoring process that allows experts to study shark behaviors.

“We try not to completely beach the sharks, so that it can still have water going over its gills,” Butler said.

Shark conservationists such as Drew Scerbo, the scientific advisor for White Shark Advocacy, have questioned Butler’s motives, wondering if the situation is a way for Butler to draw publicity and attention.

Butler rejected the notion that publicity was her goal. She defended the pictures of her with sharks.

“If we’re getting a beautiful photo that gets people to see that sharks are something that needs to be protected, then why not use that photo?” she said.