Authorities are searching for a man who carried off a dolphin that was stranded on a beach at a popular tourist spot in China’s Guangdong province.The man was filmed calmly walking down the beach in a swimsuit with the dolphin’s apparently lifeless body thrown over his shoulder. He then allegedly drove off with the dolphin in his car, reports the South China Morning Post.The video was reportedly filmed on Tuesday.
An unnamed local fishery authority told the Chinese news website Btime.com that the dolphin reportedly washed up on the beach and appeared to be dying before the man picked it up and carried it off. The South China Morning Post translated what the official said.“The man, thought to be a tourist on the island, was then seen to have carried the dolphin away on his car … he will be punished when he is identified,” the unnamed official said. “Dolphins are protected animals [in China]. Whether it was dead or alive, he should have called the authorities for help.”Numerous species of dolphin are endangered. Experts consider one species native to China, for example, to be “functionally extinct.”