AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. — A baby dolphin is believed to be dead after a man in Florida picked it up to pose for an Instagram photo.
The photo, which was taken near Jacksonville, is now drawing the ire and attention of law enforcement.
Two marine biologists told WJXT-TV in Jacksonville that it's hard to tell if the dolphin was alive when the photo was taken just by looking at the image. However, if the dolphin was alive, they said it wouldn't have been for long.
Dr. Quincy Gibson with the University of North Florida's dolphin research program said when a dead dolphin is found, Florida wildlife investigators notify her.
Gibson said she was contacted about the death last Wednesday. The photo shows what appears to be a 1-year-old male calf, which was reported dead by a biologist in Nassau County, in the same area where the picture was posted.
But in a new photo taken by investigators, the dolphin is seen bloated and bleeding around its mouth, which Gibson said is part of the decomposition process.
"What are the odds this young dolphin found dead is the same dolphin from that photo?" reporter Anne Maxwell asked.
"From what I've heard, everyone seems to be in agreement that it is, and you can tell," Gibson said.
She said you can tell by the dorsal fin because each one is unique.
"The shape matches the one in the photo where the dolphin's being held, so highly likely," Gibson said.
Amid social media backlash, the person seen holding the dolphin in the photo has posted multiple times it was an accident, at one point saying, "what ever once in a lifetime to catch a dolphin as bycatch from the shore."
"Do you think it died after it was in the photo or before?" Maxwell asked.
"I think it's highly likely that it died after, but there is a very small chance that it was deceased recently when they picked it up in the water," Gibson said. "But based off of the reports that I've heard, and the photo and the way that the people are behaving in the photo, it makes it seem like they did catch it and it was potentially alive at that point."
Experts said removing dolphins from the buoyancy of the water can result in them being crushed by the weight of their own bodies.
Experienced fishermen like Anthony Walker said he thought people knew not to mess with dolphins.
"When you break the law, you've got consequences," Walker said. "That's what the law is made for."
Right now, the people involved in the photo are not facing criminal charges.
It's against the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act to interfere with dolphins, even if they're dead.
