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Baby dolphin dies after tourists pull it out of the water for selfies, report says

Commentary: In Argentina, an animal dies so that humans can take a picture. And this isn't the first time.

Chris Matyszczyk

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Please don't take these creatures out of the water so that you can have two minutes of self-centered playtime.

Barry B. Brown, UIG via Getty Images

The question "why?" can sometimes be answered by "because humans are selfish, thoughtless halfwits."

This answer may apply to the fact that tourists in the seaside resort of San Bernardo, Argentina, dragged a baby dolphin out of the water so that they could take selfies with it.

As Argentina's La Capital reports, this wasn't the work of one or two humans. A whole group of people dragged the dolphin out and surrounded it.

The paper quotes a woman called Claudia who said that after the photos were taken and fun was had, "they left it for dead."

She added that they could have put it back into the water, where dolphins are supposed to be. Instead, she said, they were more interested in touching it and taking selfies.

Video of the incident posted to Twitter shows many beachgoers crowded around the animal and no one seeming to be the slightest bit concerned for its survival.

This isn't the first time such a thing has happened.

Last February, in Santa Teresita -- another seaside Argentinian city -- a man dragged a rare Franciscana dolphin out of the water for a similar purpose and with a similar result.

Humans just can't help wanting to take selfies with animals, regardless of the risks to themselves or to the animals. In 2015, the need to take selfies with bears forced a Colorado park to close.

Please, just stop.