Baby dolphin dies after hundreds of beachgoers in Spain pass it around for selfies
Conservation group says bathers covered dolphin’s breathing hole
A baby dolphin died last week after “hundreds” of beachgoers in southern Spain surrounded the animal to touch and take pictures with it, sparking condemnation from a local animal rescue group.
The incident took place last Friday in Mojácar, on the country’s southeastern coast, according to Equinac, a Spanish non-profit organisation that advocates for marine wildlife.
According to several posts on the group’s Facebook page, a baby dolphin that was stranded on the beach was quickly surrounded by numerous “curious” people, including children, who wanted to touch and photograph it. Some accidentally covered the dolphin’s spiracle, the blowhole the animals use to breath, the group said.
There are many [who are] incapable of empathy for a living being that is alone, scared, starved, without his mother and terrified ... All you want to do is to photograph
One concerned person reported the stranded animal to the country’s emergency services number, but by the time Equinac rescuers arrived at the beach, the dolphin was dead, the group said.
“Once again we note that the human being is the most irrational species that exists,” Equinac wrote on Facebook August 11, the day of the incident, blasting the “selfishness” of those that had swarmed the animal.
