Florida, USA - USMNT star Christian Pulisic caused a wave of outrage with an Instagram video featuring some questionable treatment of a protected species.

While on vacation in Florida, Christian Pulisic (22) was filmed dangling his feet over the side of a fishing boat, juggling a soccer ball.

But it's what's under the Chelsea FC forward that drew the most attention. Hooked against the side of the boat is a huge Atlantic goliath grouper, which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) classes as "closed to harvest," due to its vulnerable status.

In Pulisic's video, the animal is caught on the hook while he shows off his skills, joking that he was teaching the fish how to play soccer.

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After a few seconds, karma catches up with the athlete after a slight mistake, which makes him over-extend to keep the ball from dropping into the ocean.

Pulisic ends up falling overboard, crashing down on top of the distressed grouper, which begins to thrash on the large hook as it tries to get away.

Pulisic's crew on the other end of the line struggle to hold on to the grouper and eventually hoist it back against the boat.

The 22-year-old proudly posted his goofy fail with the words, "Life flashed in front of my eyes. What a day on the water."

Chelsea FC teammates such as Tammy Abraham (23), Marcos Alonso (30), and Thiago Silva (36) did not spare the laughing emojis in their comments.

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However, other fans criticized the somewhat tone-deaf stunt.

"Poor fish, that's not funny at all," wrote one follower, while another commented: "This amount of showing off should be illegal." "Weird flex bro" seemed to be the consensus regarding the stunt.

It's not the first time Pulisic has ended up in hot water over his social media activity. In March 2020, he liked an Instagram post calling for anti-fascist activists to be shot.