On Sunday afternoon, tourists in China were photographed touching, holding and lifting out of the water an injured dolphin near a popular beach resort in the Hainan Province. It is believed the dolphin sustained injuries to its tail from a boat propeller and beached itself.

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The photos of the Chinese tourists lifting the injured dolphin out of the water have gone viral. Those pictured in the photograph holding the dolphin and the lifeguard on duty at the beach that day were all criticized for not helping the dolphin.

The dolphin in the photo is not very big. It only took two men to lift the dying animal completely out of the water and hold it up like a trophy. While there is no close up photo of the dolphin's face you can see in one of the pictures the dolphin's eye is red and swollen. In humans a red eye is a sign that someone does not feel well, maybe due to allergies or a cold.

So one would have to ask these tourists why they felt the need to torment a sick and injured dolphin rather than get the animal some help. There is no denying that dolphins are one of the oceans most beautiful and alluring creatures. Thanks to TV shows and movies, humans probably have the idea that petting a wild dolphin is as acceptable as petting your dog.

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But one must remember these are not domesticated animals and manhandling them in the manor photographed on Sunday could have disastrous consequences for either the human or the dolphin.

In one photo, four men gather around the injured dolphin and lift his body out of the water while his head is still submerged. In another photo one of the four men holds the dolphin's head up out of the water in order to take a cell phone pic.

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While this fiasco was going on none of the lifeguards or other visitors on the beach thought to stop the tourists or call someone and get the dolphin some help.

The dolphin died later that night. It is believed the animal bleed to death as a result of the injuries it sustained to the tail.