A Florida teenager says he is receiving death threats after he pulled a baby dolphin out of the ocean for an Instagram photo, and the mammal later died.
The unidentified 19-year-old posted a photo online showing him smiling as he lifts a baby dolphin several feet from the water on Amelia Island, below the bridge that spans the Nassau Strait. The young dolphin was found dead in the same area on Wednesday, News4Jax reported.
The social media post sparked outrage and prompted an investigation by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Committee. [FWC] and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Dr. Quincy Gibson, associate professor of coastal and marine biology at UNF, reviewed the FWC report on the incident and said researchers believe the year-old dead dolphin recovered by wildlife officials is the same one in the photo.
The man posted a photo of himself smiling with the fish while a friend points a finger at the camera.
“From what I’ve heard, everyone [at FWC] “You seem to agree that it is,” he said, noting that the dolphins can be identified by their unique dorsal fins.
“The shape matches that of the photo where the dolphin [is] “He’s in custody… very likely,” Gibson added.
It’s unclear if the dolphin was alive or dead in the photo, but Gibson said if it were alive at the time, it wouldn’t have been for much longer.
WJXT
A photograph of the dolphin in the FWC report shows the animal swollen and bleeding from the mouth, which is part of the fish’s decomposition process, he said.
“I think it’s very likely that he died after [the photo was taken]but there is a very small chance that he died recently, when he was picked up in the water,” Dr. Gibson said.
“But based on the reports I’ve heard, the photo and the way the people in the photo are behaving, it looks like he was caught…and was potentially alive at the time.”
The man who posted the image defended himself against the online backlash, claiming it was an accident.
Dr. Quincy Gibson told News4Jax that a dead dolphin found appears to be the same as the one in the Instagram post.WJXT
In response to a reviewer’s comment, he reportedly replied “whatever” and added that it was “once in a lifetime to catch a dolphin as bycatch on the shore,” according to a screenshot of the post shared by Kevin Beaugrand, who reported the photo. to state officials.
“I was immediately furious,” Beaugrand, a surfer, told News4JAX. He said he saw the post on the browsing account on Saturday.
“It is a crime against nature,” he said.
The dolphin was found in the water near the bridge that spans Nassau Sound on Amelia Island.WJXT
In a brief statement to the outlet, he said: “We tried to see if he was still alive or if we could revive him,” adding: “There was nothing we could do.”
Since then, the teenager has been receiving death threats, the Daily Mail reported.
He has yet to be charged with any crimes, although it is illegal to interfere with wild dolphins (even if they are dead) under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
If prosecuted, violators of the Marine Mammal Protection Act could face civil penalties of up to approximately $34,000 or criminal fines and up to a year in prison, according to News4Jax.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn