A young dolphin has died after beach visitors in Argentina pulled it from the sea and took photos with it.

In shaky video footage the animal can be seen lying in shallow water as people touch it, in San Bernardo del Tuyú in Buenos Aires province on Sunday.

A witness told the C5N news outlet: "It was small and it came close to the shore. They could have put it back in the sea—in fact, it was breathing—but they all started taking photos and touching it."

But she added: "They said it was already dead."

Otra vez mataron a un delfín en San Bernardo. Sacaron al animal del mar para sacarse fotos. pic.twitter.com/4qzYnWvKiH — C5N (@C5N) January 23, 2017

Last year tourists were accused of pulling a dolphin from the sea at Santa Teresita beach, also in Argentina.

Initial reports suggested the dolphin had overheated and died of dehydration while being passed around.