A baby dolphin is believed to have died after a US man lifted it from the ocean to pose for an Instagram photo.
The photo taken in Florida shows the young dolphin proudly being held up for the camera, with the man labelling it as "bycatch" to his Instagram followers.
A dead baby dolphin was later found washed up in the area.
Coastal behavioural biologist Quincy Gibson told News4JAX that the animal is susceptible to suffocation if removed from the water.
Gibson said the unique dorsal fin pattern on the dead animal matched the one on the animal hoisted up for the selfie photo.
"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," she said.
She said that, at that age, the dolphin calf would still be nursing.
The suspect spoke with News4JAX and claimed that the dolphin was already dead when he posed with it.
"We tried to see if it was still alive, or if we could revive it," he said.
"There was nothing we could do."
