Dolphin dies after beachgoers pass it around out of water for photos

Sky News reports that a small dolphin has been killed after a group of people took it out of the water and posed with it.

According to the report, two young dolphins were taken from the sea near a resort in Santa Teresita, Argentina and passed around so that beachgoers could take images with the aquatic mammal.

While being passed around, one of the La Plata dolphins appear to have overheated and died. Those responsible for its death simply left the animal in the sand to either rot away or be discarded by someone else.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJCCdOPfEUs

As it stands, the La Plata dolphin, also referred to as the Franciscana dolphin, is considered ‘Vulnerable,’ with only 30,000 believed to be in existence.

In response to the news and images shared across social media, the Argentine Wildlife Foundation shared the following statement:

The Franciscan, like other species, cannot remain for much time out of the water. It has thick fatty skin which provides warmth, so the hot weather will cause rapid dehydration and death. At least one of the animals [from the photos taken in Santa Teresita] died. The incident prompts us to inform the public about the urgent need to return these dolphins to the sea if one is found on the shore. It is vital to help rescue these animals, because every Franciscan counts.

Twitter users also fired back at those responsible for the death of the dolphin:

i vote we pass around the baby dolphin people amongst ourselves until they also die

— Bec Shaw (@Brocklesnitch) February 18, 2016

https://twitter.com/madeinkellsey/status/700385835590533120

Articles blaming Seaworld and zoo mentality for the dolphin selfie situation. No. Those people were just absolute brain dead wankstains.

— David Bedwell (@DavidBedwell) February 18, 2016