Baby dolphin dies of ‘stress’ after being passed around for selfies

A baby dolphin has died from stress after being passed around for selfies by a group of tourists.

The dolphin had become separated from her mother and ended up on a beach off the coast of Spain. Instead of helping the dolphin, some tourists picked her up from the water and passed her around for selfies. But the time animal rescuers arrived, she had already died due to heart and lung failure brought on by stress. The dolphin was still at breast-feeding age. Spanish charity Equinac shared photos of the lost mammal on their Facebook page. Beach goers can be seen stroking the dolphin while she is in the water. Equinac also shared a photo of one of their workers lifting the already dead dolphin from the sea. The group posted a lengthy comment about the dolphin's death, saying that animals need "respect and consideration." Translated from Spanish, the posts read:

"Cetaceans are animals very susceptible to stress and manipulation. The reality is that to take pictures and touch them causes them a very strong shock that accelerates, to a larger extent, to failure, which is what finally happened."

They also said that people should not be rushing to take photos with a "weak and frightened" cub. The event occurred last Friday at Mojacar, a resort in Almeria.