People found the female animal stranded on Quintana Beach on Sunday afternoon and pushed it back into the sea, but jumped on it in the process, the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network said in a Facebook post. The dolphin was eventually trapped again and continued to be harassed by the team. “This type of harassment causes unwarranted stress to wild dolphins, is dangerous to humans who interact with them and is illegal – punishable by fines and imprisonment if convicted,” the network said. Christopher Marshall, a marine biologist at Texas A&M University in Galveston, said coastal people may not have known that all marine mammals are protected by the federal government. “In this case, it is a very glaring example of what we should not do,” Marshall told KHOU. “Those who rode the animal, the animal was quite sick, already stressed at this point. The animal was probably on the edge of the cliff and the anxiety is what killed it “. People found the female animal stranded on Quintana Beach on Sunday afternoon and pushed it back into the sea but jumped on it in the process. Facebook / Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network He said it was not uncommon for bottlenose dolphins to flush ashore along the Texas coast, but warned that people should follow the rules if they found one – including leaving the animal alone and calling the authorities. “You could have serious problems with law enforcement. You may face fines or imprisonment. “It’s a serious issue,” Marshall told the report. Marine biologist Christopher Marshall called the incident a “pretty glaring example of what we should not do.” Facebook / Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network “It really enriches our lives to have these animals around us. “They are very beautiful and they are very important for the ecosystem,” he added.
