POP-ROCKER Shakira has been hit by a barrage of outrage after posting a photograph on Instagram of her swimming with stingrays during her family holiday in the Bahamas – although footage of the same activity uploaded by her husband, FC Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué, attracted two million 'likes'.
Piqué, 32, posted a video of himself and the couple's two sons Milan, six and Sasha, four stroking a shark which had swum to their feet at what seems to be an open-air aquarium – but which could also be the open sea - on Balmoral Island, whilst Colombian-born Shakira's shows her gently holding a stingray.
The Barça player's caption simply reads, 'Sharks', and the musician and composer's reads: “Me and the stingray (without the sting!) in absolute peace and harmony at the fantastic Balmoral Island!”
Both are written solely in English.
Comments on the latter's included, “Can we just stop taking animals away from their habitat to please humans?” and, “Without the sting? Could that be because it's been removed so it can be used by humans for a profit?” plus, “Terrible, she's just encouraging keeping these poor animals in captivity.”
One compared the 'stingray without the sting' to Shakira's vocal cord operation two years ago which left her unable to perform.
“You already know what it feels like being without a voice. I don't see any empathy here,” the comment read.
Another even invites the Colombian-Lebanese artist, 42, to 'get in a cage with a lion'.
But Piqué's picture of him and his children touching sharks as stingrays swam by attracted a long string of warm remarks about how 'cute' the little boys were.
Large aquarium complexes where humans can swim with sharks, dolphins, stingrays and other sea creatures – including the Oceanogràfic in Valencia, the largest of its kind in Europe – normally aim to recreate the animals' natural habitat as closely as possible so they do not 'notice' they are out of their original sea or river.
Many also happily mingle with human swimmers and divers in the wild.
One fan on Shakira's Instagram site defends her, pointing out that 'these animals [on the picture] are not in captivity'.
“They are as docile as dogs, and they swim up to tourists to ask for food,” the social media user points out.
