Florida man shares photo holding dolphin out of water, prompts investigation
JACKSONVILLE BEACH -- A Florida man is receiving backlash after posting a photo of him holding a dolphin out of the water.
A photo of a dolphin, hoisted out of the water, was posted on Instagram last week and then, according to Kevin Beaugrand , shared with more than 100 thousand people on a surfing account.
That's where he says he saw it Saturday night.
"I was immediately enraged." said resident Kevin Beaugrand.
Beaugrand is a surfer and bartender who lives in Jacksonville Beach.
He says he wanted to do something when he saw the picture.
"It's a crime against nature." said Beaugrand
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, feeding or harassing dolphins violates the Marine Mammals Protection Act.
It's against that law to disturb their behavioral patterns or injure them in the wild.
Jacksonville University Marine Science Professor Dr. Quinton White says holding a dolphin out of the water could hurt them.
"The dolphin was probably ill to be caught like that and to put that kind of stress or an animal really is horrific." said Marine Biologist Dr. Quinton White
He says marine mammals need buoyancy to breathe, so hoisting a dolphin out of the water can make it really difficult for them to draw breath.
"It may not survive. You know, you didn't mean to do that, and we won't know probably for a while whether it made it or not. So, it was pretty horrific when I saw it. A lot of animals, people don't realize it, they catch them and they 'Oh, I want to take pictures' and they put it back in the water and they die because they're not used to being out of the water." continued Dr. White.
Beaugrand reported the photo to several agencies.
The NOAA and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are now investigating.
If prosecuted, violators of the marine mammal protection act could face civil penalties up to about $34,000 or criminal fines and up to a year in prison.