Two of the endangered critters, La Plata
or Franciscana dolphins, were spotted by tourists in the waters off
Santa Teresita, a beach resort town located southeast of Buenos Aires.
Footage obtained by Sky News
shows a person taking one of the dolphins from the water. A swarm of
people then congregate around the creature on the sand, and reach out to
touch it and pass it around for photos.
According to Vida Silvestre, at least
one of the two animals died from dehydration after the crowd took
selfies and passed it around, leaving it to die on the sand.
It remains unknown why the dolphins were removed from the water.
“The potential for recovery of this species is very low,” the Vida Silvestre said in its statement. “The Franciscan, like other dolphins, can not survive long out of the water. It has a very thick and fatty skin, which provides warmth. Hot weather will quickly cause rapid dehydration and death.”
The wildlife organization pleaded with
people to have compassion on the creatures. “It is vital that people
help rescue these animals, because every Franciscan counts.”
Less than 30,000 La Plata dolphins exist in the world, and are only found in Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina.
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