Outrage after tourists take snaps with dying dolphin in China

Tourists who discovered a gravely injured dolphin while swimming in China are being slammed after they lifted it out of the water and posed for photos instead of seeking help from wildlife authorities.

The dolphin was found near the shore of a top beach resort off the coast of Sanya City in the Chinese province of Hainan at around 6pm on Sunday (local time).

The animal died of "excessive bleeding" later that night at a nearby marine park, the Shanghai Daily reported.

The beachgoers took a series of snaps which showed them lifting the dolphin out of the water and a man flexing his muscles while posing with the dolphin.

The images were posted on Chinese microblogging service Sina Weibo, and users quickly hit out saying that the group of men had a basic disregard for life, had "no shame", and that the pictures showed "Chinese tourists' uncivilised habits".




The images of the group of men have since gone viral, and have made headlines around the world.

A witness said "it was a disgusting spectacle", the Daily Mail reported.

"Luckily there were other people on the beach who'd called the coastguard," the witness said.

According to Chinese news agency Xinhua, lifeguards arrived and dispersed the crowd that had gathered around the dolphin and tried to protect the mammal until fisheries officials arrived around 7pm local time to take it for treatment.

Experts told the Daily the dolphin had an injured tail which suggested it may have collided with a fishing boat.

A marine mammal biologist told the National Geographic it was hard to say if the group of men had contributed to the dolphin's death, but said one of the pictures of the dolphin out of the water showed the animal arching its back, which is a stress response.

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