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'Selfish' tourists blamed for baby dolphin death

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40950693

A baby dolphin has died after it was surrounded by tourists looking to take photographs on a beach in southern Spain.

It had lost its mother and become stranded in shallow waters off the coast of Mojacar in Andalucia.

Tourists then began touching and photographing the animal rather than seeking help for it.

Equinac, a local NGO, said "selfishness" caused the dolphin "suffering and stress."

The organisation, which works to protect marine wildlife in the area, wrote in a Facebook post (in Spanish): "The animal was subjected to the curious who wanted to photograph and touch it."

"These animals are highly protected; to disturb them, to harm them, to manipulate them and to harass them is prohibited by law, and we always ask for respect and consideration."
 
Sadly not the first time something of this nature happens...and with this moronic mentality it won't be the last. How about you make sure the animal is safe and sound THEN you take a picture!?
 
I wish we could pay lifeguards to bum-rush these crowds when this shit happens, and anyone who doesn't immediately disperse gets dropped.

I'm so tired of people's stupidity when it comes to wild animals. I refuse to believe none of those people had read about similar incidents at least once.
 
Sadly not the first time something of this nature happens...and with this moronic mentality it won't be the last. How about you make sure the animal is safe and sound THEN you take a picture!?

Yeah until I checked dates I thought that the OP had somehow reposted old news. Same thing happened in Argentina:

dolphin1.jpg


Although that was worse because they picked the damn thing up out of the ocean and it died from exposure.
 
Yeah until I checked dates I thought that the OP had somehow reposted old news. Same thing happened in Argentina:

dolphin1.jpg


Although that was worse because they picked the damn thing up out of the ocean and it died from exposure.

A lot of idiots there, and this fucking enraged me. Would they be smiling and laughing if someone was in the water being dragged down by a pack of dolphins?
 
I mean, it seems like they were just petting a dolphin that was chilling in the shallows.

It's probably hard to tell its in distress.

Fuck that Argentina picture though.
 
Because it's a subjective quote from a source in the article?

This is a common thing for reporting.

That's the point though.. is it really that subjective? Maybe I'm wrong, but it looks like the title was framed to push the "were they REALLY selfish though" narrative.

How else would you classify people who let an animal suffer and die for their own amusement?

'Selfish' didn't need to be included in the title, and it was, and was in quotes.. so I gotta side eye that a little
 
That's the point though.. is it really that subjective? Maybe I'm wrong, but it looks like the title was framed to push the "were they REALLY selfish though" narrative.

How else would you classify people who let an animal suffer and die for their own amusement?

1) Nothing in the article suggests they knew the animal was suffering. The picture in the article makes it look like they were interacting with a seemingly healthy, friendly dolphin that was hanging out with them in shallow water. Unless they were literally holding the dolphin down under water, carrying it or causing other physical stress, it's hard to determine what they really did wrong besides pet a wild animal.

2) Even if they had willingly and knowingly hurt the animal foe their own amusement, no reporter worth their salt would include a judgment term like "selfish" as a matter of fact. That's blatant editorializing.
 
for teh views!

instead of "this one time i helped save a baby dolphin and push it back into the deeper water" it's now "remember that tim i took a selfie with a stranded baby dolphin....and it died later on though"

smh
 
1) Nothing in the article suggests they knew the animal was suffering. The picture in the article makes it look like they were interacting with a seemingly healthy, friendly dolphin that was hanging out with them in shallow water. Unless they were literally holding the dolphin down under water, carrying it or causing other physical stress, it's hard to determine what they really did wrong besides pet a wild animal.

2) Even if they had willingly and knowingly hurt the animal foe their own amusement, no reporter worth their salt would include a judgment term like "selfish" as a matter of fact. That's blatant editorializing.

OK, so a baby dolphin gets separated from its mother, then a group of strange/unfamiliar humans start grabbing and touching it in shallow water, while it's stranded and clearly in bad shape (see: it died not long after), and you think that the animal wouldn't be distressed by this event? Especially considering it eventually DIED afterword? Come on now

It's also worth pointing out that "selfish" wasn't even the quote, it was "selfishness", so the quote was changed in the title was is even stranger to me. Maybe it's nothing, as it's a short article anyway, but that jumped out at me.

But why include it at all? Why not just say "curious tourists blamed for baby dolphin death"?, or something similar?

Either way, yes, they were selfish, and yes, they contributed to this animals suffering and death instead of trying to help.

That's just a bizarre ass hill to die on..
 
OK, so a baby dolphin gets separated from its mother, then a group of humans start grabbing and touching it in shallow water, while it's stranded and clearly in bad shape (see: it died not long after), and you think that the animal wouldn't be distressed by this event? Especially considering it eventually DIED afterword? Come on now

It's also worth pointing out that "selfish" wasn't even the quote, it was "selfishness", so the quote was changed in the title was is even stranger to me. Maybe it's nothing, as it's a short article anyway, but that jumped out at me.

But why include it at all? Why not just say "curious tourists blamed for baby dolphin death"?, or something similar?

How is it clearly in bad shape? Because it died after? What about the picture implies it's in bad shape?

And "stranded" sounds ambiguous. The text implies it could either be in shallow water or could be "beached" on sand. The picture seems to suggest the former and that might be harder to recognize.
 
How is it clearly in bad shape? Because it died after? What about the picture implies it's in bad shape?

And "stranded" sounds ambiguous. The text implies it could either be in shallow water or could be "beached" on sand. The picture seems to suggest the former and that might be harder to recognize.

Yes.. because it died after. It was without its mother, stranded.

Do you think a baby dolphin just dies shortly after, without it being in bad shape? Like it was just in great shape right before its infant body lost life?

Damn

And to not condemn random people groping a dying animal instead of helping it.. I find that strange

Or maybe you're just messing with me?
 
We'd probably need video to see if there was any obvious indication that it was in distress (from how it moves, etc). Looks kinda like the guy on the left is holding it's tail in a grip, preventing it from moving, although I can't quite tell if his hand is flat and patting or fisted and gripping thanks to water distortion, so that's just my theory sitting on the sidelines. If they were preventing it from swimming away, then they're a bunch of mega assholes. They're already assholes for swarming a wild animal like it's Sea World, anyway.
 
Yes.. because it died after. It was without its mother, stranded.

Do you think a baby dolphin just dies shortly after, without it being in bad shape? Like it was just in great shape right before its infant body lost life?

Damn

And to not condemn random people groping a dying animal instead of helping it.. I find that strange

Or maybe you're just messing with me?

I think what hes getting at is was it obvious to the average person that it was in distress? Or did it just look like a baby dolphin swimming in shallow water? Its possible that people did not realize that there was a problem until it was too late.
 
Yes.. because it died after. It was without its mother, stranded.

Do you think a baby dolphin just dies shortly after, without it being in bad shape? Like it was just in great shape right before its infant body lost life?

Damn

And to not condemn random people groping a dying animal instead of helping it.. I find that strange

Or maybe you're just messing with me?

If a seemingly healthy, lone, docile baby deer walked up to you in the woods and stood by your side, would you not be tempted to pet it?

And if you decided to pet it, would you feel responsible if it's heart randomly exploded or it died due to some other seemingly random cause?

Because the description in the article seems to suggest the same thing happened here.
 
If a seemingly healthy, lone, docile baby deer walked up to you in the woods and stood by your side, would you not be tempted to pet it?

And if you decided to pet it, would you feel responsible if it's heart randomly exploded or it died due to some other seemingly random cause?

Because the description in the article seems to suggest the same thing happened here.

Lol alright now you're trolling.

Also, I did a quick google search and found this article (watch the video of the beautiful baby dolphin who eagerly swam up and posed next to hundreds of people, for fun):

article said:
"The photographs showed children touching the animal, unintentionally covering the spiracle (blowhole).

"It's not an animal for children or adults to caress.

"Cetaceans are very susceptible to stress, and crowding round it to take photos and to touch it causes them a big shock which greatly accelerates a cardiorespiratory failure, which is what happened.

Hmm

Again you're dying on the weirdest hill man lol but it's increasingly clear you're not serious
 
Lol alright now you're trolling.

Also, I did a quick google search and found this article (watch the video of the beautiful baby dolphin who eagerly swam up and posed next to hundreds of people, for fun):



Hmm

Cool. You found additional details to the story.

Based on those new details, I agree the people were fucking idiots.

The story in the OP includes none of these details though.
 
Dumb move but I don't know if selfish is the right word. Did they have an warnings or information on leaving dolphins alone? How many of us know anything what is harmful to dolphins? How many of us have even seen one in the wild?
 
If a seemingly healthy, lone, docile baby deer walked up to you in the woods and stood by your side, would you not be tempted to pet it?

And if you decided to pet it, would you feel responsible if it's heart randomly exploded or it died due to some other seemingly random cause?

Because the description in the article seems to suggest the same thing happened here.

People act like they were clubbing a baby seal.

Hell, wtf right. Millennial haven't ever seen a cow in their life.
 
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