A STRANDED dolphin died Monday morning in Sanya City, Hainan Province, after being manhandled by tourists who used it as a photo prop.

    The dolphin was first discovered at 6 p.m. Sunday stranded near Sanya’s Dadonghai beach resort, reported China Daily and Hainan news site Hinews.cn.

    With no professional marine rescue center in Sanya, staff from the Sanya City Bureau of Oceans and Fishing were forced to contact Hainan provincial rescue workers, who eventually arrived at 9 p.m.

    In the meantime, Sanya tourists gathered around the stranded dolphin for nearly 30 minutes to take photographs. Several men posed with the dolphin, eventually lifting it out of the water. This continued until local lifeguards surrounded the dolphin and guided it away to prevent further manhandling.

    The dolphin was declared dead at midnight due to excessive bleeding from the caudal (tail) fin. Hainan’s Aquatic Wild Animal Rescue Center has begun procedures to bury the corpse. According to their analysis, the dolphin may have been beached after colliding with a fishing boat.

    Some tourists may now face animal cruelty charges.

    Photographs showing men posing with the dolphin have gone viral on Sina Weibo, China’s microblogging site. Hundreds of comments have been posted to the photographs, with many criticizing the photographers for harassing the dolphin instead of trying to help it.

    “Lack of respect for life is the root of every Chinese tragedy,” one commenter said.

    “[What matters is that] their intent wasn’t to help. It was to take pictures. Extremely shameful,” said another.

    “At one time dolphins were considered mankind’s friends. And they were also synonymous with kindness,” a third netizen wrote. “Now, mankind’s selfishness and ugly behavior makes me tremble.” (SD-Agencies)