An endangered dolphin was killed after beach-goers reportedly pulled it from the water in order to take photos with it.

The Franciscan dolphin died last week at the Santa Teresita resort in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after a scrum of people were photographed grabbing two or the marine animals out of the surf and passing them around.

Hernan Coria posted images on Facebook showing two dolphins being held aloft like trophies while grinning tourists were seemingly unaware or unbothered about the animals' discomfort.

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Another photo showed at least one of the animals had been left on the sand to die.

Segundo delfín que aparece en el día en Santa Teresita una lastima no creo que vivan Posted by Hernan Coria on Wednesday, 10 February 2016

After the images from Santa Teresita emerged, the Argentine Wildlife Foundation issued a warning to the public about the dolphins’ vulnerability in the hope that it will prevent similar incidents.

"The Franciscan, like other species, cannot remain for much time out of the water. It has thick fatty skin which provides warmth, so the hot weather will cause rapid dehydration and death," a spokesperson wrote on the charity's website.

Shape Created with Sketch. The rarest animals in the world Show all 23 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. The rarest animals in the world 1/23 Goblin shark Dubbed the "alien of the deep", the goblin shark was caught by a commercial fisherman off the coast of Eden, New South Wales. The carcass of the terrifying looking creature was then donated to the Australian Museum in Sydney so that it could be dissected YouTube/Australian Museum 2/23 Glass frog Scientists in South America have discovered a brand new species of frog – and he’s a dead ringer for Kermit the frog. Hyalinobatrachium dianae is an inch-long glass frog with identical bright green skin, a translucent belly, and bulging white eyes with black pupils. The new species found by Costa Rican Amphibian Research Center on the Talamanca hills of the country, was named after the senior researcher’s mother Diane and brought the total known species of glass frogs on the island to 14 BBC via YouTube 3/23 Walking fish (climbing perch) A bizarre and seemingly super-powered fish which can walk out of water and breathe on land for up to six days could spell a 'major disaster' for wildlife, scientists have warned. The aggressive climbing perch, which has lungs as well as gills, has been discovered in northern Australia YouTube 4/23 Frilled shark A rare and terrifying frilled shark has been pulled from the water by fishermen near Lakes Entrance in Victoria, Australia. Also known as the "living fossil", the frilled shark is named for its six pairs of frill-like gills. The shark’s origin dates back 80 million years, and is one of two species that is still alive from this period SETFA 5/23 Black Sea Devil anglerfish Researchers in the US have released what they believe to be the first video footage showing a bizarre-looking Black Sea Devil anglerfish in the wild. As anglerfish live in the deep sea, they are very rarely seen in their natural habitat, and fewer than half a dozen have ever been captured on film or video in the wild, according to experts at the Monterrey Bay Acquarium Research Institute (MBARI) Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute 6/23 Blue lobster A rare blue lobster was caught off Pine Point in Scarborough, Maine. 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The bird joins a global kakapo population of just 125 birds Creative Commons. Photo: jidanchaomian, via Flickr. 12/23 Migaloo the white whale Migaloo the white whale, sighted at the Bernard Islands Twitter/Migaloo the Whale 13/23 Domed land snail Living in complete darkness more than 900 metres below the surface has left this tiny snail with no pigmentation in its shell. Discovered in the caves of western Croatia the Zospeum tholussum is also a slow mover, creeping just a few centimeters each week. 14/23 Leaf-tailed gecko The mottled colouring on this gecko helps it blend in with the rain forests and rocky habitats of eastern Australia. It also has an extremely wide tail (from which it gets its name) to further confuse predators Conrad Hoskin 15/23 Flying frog A Giant green flying frog which is among the new species found by scientists in the Greater Mekong region PA 16/23 Megamouth shark An extremely rare female deep-water megamouth shark has been caught off the coast of Shizuoka, Japan, and is believed to be only the 58 sighting of the animal on record 17/23 A Maui's dolphin Fears grow for Maui's dolphins after New Zealand government opens west coast block for oil and gas drilling youtube 18/23 Geep A rare goat-sheep hybrid has been born on an Irish farm, much to the surprise of a farmer who said the ‘geep’ is thriving since its birth Irish Farmers Journal 19/23 Omani owl An Omani Owl, a species completely new to science PA 20/23 Albino dolphin A rare albino calf being herded into Japan's notorious Taiji 'killing' Cove, where hundreds of dolphins are slaughtered during its annual hunt Sea Shepherd/EPA 21/23 Stone curlew The stone curlew is one of the UK's most threatened birds and has recently returned from their wintering grounds in Africa and Spain Getty Images 22/23 Mascarene Petrel A unique photograph has been taken of a bird with a visible egg showing after experts sent to study a critically endangered Mascarene Petrel on a remote Indian Ocean tropical island encountered an undeniably pregnant member of the species Hadoram Shirihai 23/23 Albino cobra A "very dangerous and venomous" albino cobra has been found in a suburban Los Angeles neighbourhood after escaping from a home there Dept. of Animal Care and Control, County of Los Angeles 1/23 Goblin shark Dubbed the "alien of the deep", the goblin shark was caught by a commercial fisherman off the coast of Eden, New South Wales. The carcass of the terrifying looking creature was then donated to the Australian Museum in Sydney so that it could be dissected YouTube/Australian Museum 2/23 Glass frog Scientists in South America have discovered a brand new species of frog – and he’s a dead ringer for Kermit the frog. Hyalinobatrachium dianae is an inch-long glass frog with identical bright green skin, a translucent belly, and bulging white eyes with black pupils. The new species found by Costa Rican Amphibian Research Center on the Talamanca hills of the country, was named after the senior researcher’s mother Diane and brought the total known species of glass frogs on the island to 14 BBC via YouTube 3/23 Walking fish (climbing perch) A bizarre and seemingly super-powered fish which can walk out of water and breathe on land for up to six days could spell a 'major disaster' for wildlife, scientists have warned. The aggressive climbing perch, which has lungs as well as gills, has been discovered in northern Australia YouTube 4/23 Frilled shark A rare and terrifying frilled shark has been pulled from the water by fishermen near Lakes Entrance in Victoria, Australia. Also known as the "living fossil", the frilled shark is named for its six pairs of frill-like gills. The shark’s origin dates back 80 million years, and is one of two species that is still alive from this period SETFA 5/23 Black Sea Devil anglerfish Researchers in the US have released what they believe to be the first video footage showing a bizarre-looking Black Sea Devil anglerfish in the wild. As anglerfish live in the deep sea, they are very rarely seen in their natural habitat, and fewer than half a dozen have ever been captured on film or video in the wild, according to experts at the Monterrey Bay Acquarium Research Institute (MBARI) Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute 6/23 Blue lobster A rare blue lobster was caught off Pine Point in Scarborough, Maine. The crustacean is being donated to the Maine State Aquarium AP Photo/Meghan LaPlante 7/23 Two-headed dolphin A con-joined dolphin found on the beach of the Aegean Sea coastal town of Dikili, Izmir province of Turkey AP 8/23 Conjoined whales A pair of conjoined gray whale calves have been found off the coast of Mexico, in what scientists believe could be the first discovery of its kind CONANPHO/AFP/Getty Images 9/23 Fish-eating spider (Dolomedes facetus) Dolomedes facetus captured pond fish (genus Xiphophorus) in a garden pond near Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The number of spiders who catch and eat fish is on the rise across the world, scientists believe Peter Liley, Moffat Beach, Queensland 10/23 Dancing frogs A frog couple from one of the 14 new species of so-called dancing frogs AP/Satyabhama Das Biju 11/23 Kakapo Conservationists in New Zealand are celebrating after an extremely rare kakapo chick hatched from a cracked egg held together by nothing more than tape and glue. The bird joins a global kakapo population of just 125 birds Creative Commons. Photo: jidanchaomian, via Flickr. 12/23 Migaloo the white whale Migaloo the white whale, sighted at the Bernard Islands Twitter/Migaloo the Whale 13/23 Domed land snail Living in complete darkness more than 900 metres below the surface has left this tiny snail with no pigmentation in its shell. Discovered in the caves of western Croatia the Zospeum tholussum is also a slow mover, creeping just a few centimeters each week. 14/23 Leaf-tailed gecko The mottled colouring on this gecko helps it blend in with the rain forests and rocky habitats of eastern Australia. It also has an extremely wide tail (from which it gets its name) to further confuse predators Conrad Hoskin 15/23 Flying frog A Giant green flying frog which is among the new species found by scientists in the Greater Mekong region PA 16/23 Megamouth shark An extremely rare female deep-water megamouth shark has been caught off the coast of Shizuoka, Japan, and is believed to be only the 58 sighting of the animal on record 17/23 A Maui's dolphin Fears grow for Maui's dolphins after New Zealand government opens west coast block for oil and gas drilling youtube 18/23 Geep A rare goat-sheep hybrid has been born on an Irish farm, much to the surprise of a farmer who said the ‘geep’ is thriving since its birth Irish Farmers Journal 19/23 Omani owl An Omani Owl, a species completely new to science PA 20/23 Albino dolphin A rare albino calf being herded into Japan's notorious Taiji 'killing' Cove, where hundreds of dolphins are slaughtered during its annual hunt Sea Shepherd/EPA 21/23 Stone curlew The stone curlew is one of the UK's most threatened birds and has recently returned from their wintering grounds in Africa and Spain Getty Images 22/23 Mascarene Petrel A unique photograph has been taken of a bird with a visible egg showing after experts sent to study a critically endangered Mascarene Petrel on a remote Indian Ocean tropical island encountered an undeniably pregnant member of the species Hadoram Shirihai 23/23 Albino cobra A "very dangerous and venomous" albino cobra has been found in a suburban Los Angeles neighbourhood after escaping from a home there Dept. of Animal Care and Control, County of Los Angeles

"At least one of the animals [from the photos taken in Santa Teresita] died. The incident prompts us to inform the public about the urgent need to return these dolphins to the sea if one is found on the shore. It is vital to help rescue these animals, because every Franciscan counts."

The Argentine Wildlife Foundation reports that the Franciscan dolphin is one of the smallest and rarest dolphins in the world. It is “vulnerable to extinction” with just 30,000 believed to be left in the wild.

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