Gold Coast, Australia - Never mind the sharks, if you're out swimming on the Australian Gold Coast, watch out for this surfer who has taken to paddling out with his pet python coiled around his neck!

Higor Fiuza is often described as a local legend and it's no wonder. The surfer caused a stir after footage emerged of him carving through the azure waves while carrying his pet carpet python.

But authorities were not as impressed as the internet. Since Fiuza apparently didn't have a permit to have the reptile in public, he was fined 2,322 Australian dollars – a hefty $1,500.

"To take an animal out in public or display it requires a separate permit," Queensland's Department of Environment and Science clarified Monday in a statement.

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"Snakes are obviously cold-blooded animals, and while they can swim, reptiles generally avoid water," it explained.

"The python would have found the water to be extremely cold, and the only snakes that should be in the ocean are sea snakes."

Carpet pythons are non-venomous snakes that can grow up to 10 feet long. They wrap themselves around their prey and squeeze it until it suffocates.

They mostly eat birds, lizards, and other small mammals, but are definitely not too picky when it comes to their prey.