What the shell! Turtle gives the rude finger in Queensland, Australia

No one likes having a camera shoved in their face. And it seems turtles aren’t an exception. Hilarious photographs captured underwater show a turtle, called Terry, appearing to swear at a diver off the coast of Queensland, in Australia.  

The remarkable image was captured by Mark Fitz, a travel photographer who was on Lady Elliot Island, on the Great Barrier Reef. The angry turtle is seen putting up his middle finger – commonly known as the rude finger – as he swam among the coral reefs. 

A naughty turtle swearing underwater with his rude finger (pictured) has been caught on camera in the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia.

The 36-year-old received more than 1,000 reactions when he posted the image of the turtle on Instagram. ‘Is it just me or does it look like Terry the Turtle is sticking his finger up at me?,’ he posted.

Mr Fitz, 36, said the ‘rude turtle’ got offended when he swam away from him after they had been together most of the day.

‘I was swimming with the ”rude turtle” for a very long time that day, he seemed to be offended when I swam away from him and he kept following,’ he said.  

‘There is a crystal clear lagoon at Lady Elliot Island and every time I visit, there’s always turtles swimming around. ‘They’re incredibly inquisitive turtles and they tend to follow you around.’ 

Mark said he had received a massive response to the image with many offering to buy prints or even tattoo the image on their body.  ‘People can’t believe their eyes,’ he said.   

People reacted with glee to the image on Instagram, with one person saying: ‘Haha great capture, totally giving the finger’, while another social user commented, ‘very cheeky guy’. Lady Elliot Island,  located at the southern tip of the heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef, is known for its spectacular marine life including turtles and manta rays.