Cow and Dolphin Go for a Swim. Credit - Inchydoney Surf School via Storyful

Cow and Dolphin Go for a Swim. Credit - Inchydoney Surf School via Storyful

A BABY dolphin has died after tourists took it out of the water and posed for selfies with it on a packed beach.

The female had become separated from its mother and was stranded in shallow water off a beach in Mojacar in southern Spain.

The beachgoers took it out of its natural habitat, patted it and began passing the animal amongst themselves as they posed for photos.

A local wildlife group Equinac brought the shocking incident to light on its Facebook page, posting photos of the tourists and the dolphin.

A non-profit group from Almeria Equinac said the tourists were “obsessed” with taking selfies.

The group wrote: “Humans are the most irrational animal there is. Many people are unable to feel empathy for a living being which is frightened, starving hungry, without its mother and terrified.

“In their selfishness, all they want is to photograph it and touch it, even if the animal is suffering from stress.”

According to Equinac hundreds of beachgoers made their way toward the animal to have a look and their photo taken.

They said the lifeguard on duty “lost his nerve when he saw hundreds of people rushing towards the animal”.

Animal experts from Equinac were on the scene after 15 minutes but the dolphin had died.

“The animal was submitted to the curiosity of those who wanted to photograph and touch it,” the group wrote.

“The photographs showed children touching the animal, unintentionally covering the spiracle. 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.

“We’re not saying that the bathers were responsible for it becoming stranded.

“It became stranded because it was sick or because it lost its mother, without whom it cannot survive.

“But crowding round to photograph and touch it of course causes these animals to become extremely stressed.”