At approximately 5pm on the afternoon of May 17, two girls, while swimming in the sea, spotted a dolphin that later attracted the attention of hundreds of people who were also present at the beach.
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| Thrilled at the sight of the dolphin. |
According to witnesses, the dolphin appeared about 5 metres away from Nhat Le shore (Dong Hoi City, Quang Binh Province) and many people who were swimming at the time were panicking as they mistook it for a shark.
However, soon after realising that the creature was moving very slowly and appeared friendly, people's panic turned into curiosity.
A group of young men then approached and pulled the creature closer to shore. Through observations from local fishermen, the 1.5 metre long creature found was a dolphin.
According to witnesses at the scene, many fishermen intervened and suggested that the dolphin to be returned to sea. However, a group of about 10 young men continued to follow and play around with the dolphin, some even climbed on its back for fun, oblivious to the fact that this unfortunate dolphin seemed to be quite weak and move very slowly.
According to one fisherman, the dolphin was probably sick and did not have much strength to swim. The waves must have pulled it to shore and with the rising tide, the dolphin was stuck and could not get itself back to the open sea.
Other fishermen said they had spotted another dolphin about 10 metres away from where the first one was found, but it quickly swam away before catching the attention of people at the beach.
At 6 p.m, Nhat Le Border Force and a small boat from Quang Binh Department of Capture Fisheries and Resources Protection came to protect the dolphin from being harmed by the group of young men.