Migrants in the North African Spanish enclave of Ceuta were captured on video hitting a young dolphin and possibly killing it while celebrating.
Video circulating online shows a group of men and boys triumphantly lifting what appeared to be a baby bottlenose dolphin calf above their heads as onlookers gleefully cheered.
The dolphin swam too close to shore when a group of men allegedly pulled it from El Trampolin beach.
The celebration appeared to enrage local residents, who tried to stop the group’s actions during a confrontation.
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One of the men reportedly struck the dolphin with a stick, mortally wounding it. Some people were heard shouting “no” in the video, and some men were cheering. Others appeared concerned at the treatment of the marine mammal.
Someone eventually took the mammal and placed it back in the water. The incident has sparked outrage among Ceuta residents.
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“On Wednesday, September 2, 2026, a disoriented dolphin calf swimming near the shore at Trampolin Beach, in Ceuta, was brutally pulled from the water,” Nadia Garcia Gomez wrote in a social media post announcing a petition to have those involved arrested.
“Eyewitnesses and local media reported that the animal was handled as if it were an object and violently struck on the head with a stick, causing its immediate death.”
Gomez called the migrants’ actions an act of “extreme and unjustifiable cruelty” that cannot go unpunished. She noted that dolphins are a protected species under Spanish and European laws.
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Other Ceuta residents have called for the migrants involved to be prosecuted and expelled from the country.
Ceuta has been gripped by an influx of migrants from neighboring Morocco. In July, more than 70,000 migrants stormed the tiny enclave’s border defenses. Although most of the migrants returned home shortly afterward, thousands have remained.
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Some residents have called for deportations and tougher action from the central government in Madrid. Last week, angry locals tore down migrant tents and shelters at the beach.