People are obsessed with documenting every moment and capturing the perfect selfie to show off their adventures, but it turns out this ‘harmless’ obsession has just cost a defenseless baby animal its life.
When tourists at the Santa Teresita beach resort near Buenos Aires spotted a baby Franciscana dolphin near the shore, they plucked it out of the water and passed it around to take pictures with until it eventually died.
Like most other aquatic animals, the Franciscana dolphin, which is currently facing the threat of extinction with only 30,000 left, can’t survive out of the water. “The Franciscana, like other dolphins, can not long remain above water. It has a very thick and greasy skin that provides warmth, so the weather will quickly cause dehydration and death,” environmentalist group Vida Silvestre said.
“It was just a baby, an incredible animal which had the misfortune of running into the worst kind of mammals — humans,” witness Ayelén Rodriguez said. She tried to get everyone to stop touching the baby dolphin and return it back to the water, but no one would listen.
After a few minutes out of the water and unprotected from the strong sun, the tiny Franciscan dolphin died lying on the sand. One man attempted to resuscitate it, but it was too late to help.
Watch the entire video below to see the sickening moment this baby dolphin died after some tourists wanted to take photos with it.
Can you believe this defenseless animal had to die because of careless humans? Let us know what you think in the comments below, and please SHARE this on Facebook to remind people to never put an animal in danger for a silly picture.
[Featured image credit: Facebook/Hernan Coria]