Gruesome footage appears to show illegal migrants in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta capturing a young dolphin swimming in shallow water, hitting it with a stick and possibly killing it.
The video shared online shows a group of men crowding around the animal and lifting it above their heads like a trophy as onlookers cheer – before angry locals confront them.
One of the Spaniards shouts ‘No! No! No!’ before warning the migrants that it is illegal to touch or eat the dolphin.
An online petition has been launched demanding those responsible be identified and brought to justice.
The group of men are believed to be among the estimated 72,500 migrants who swam across the border from Morocco to the North African enclave in July. Although most have returned, about 5,000 still live on the streets and beaches.
According to local newspaper El Faro de Ceuta, the dolphin calf was said to have been swimming close to shore before being pulled out of the water and hit on the head with a stick.
According to the newspaper, a local employee witnessed the incident and intervened. He shouted at the group not to hit or touch the animal and to call animal rescue.
Nadia Garcia Gomez, who launched the petition, said in a post alongside a photo of one of the migrants holding up the calf: ‘On Wednesday, September 2, 2026, a disoriented dolphin calf swimming near the shore of Trampolin Beach in Ceuta was brutally pulled from the water.
The disturbing moment a group of migrants on a beach in Ceuta hold a dolphin calf above their heads as if it were a trophy after allegedly hitting it over the head with a stick
Furious locals argued with the men as they surrounded the animal, with one warning them that it was illegal to touch and ‘eat’ it
The sickening scenes have now sparked an online petition demanding those responsible be identified and brought to justice
‘Witnesses and local media reported that the animal was handled as if it were an object and was violently struck on the head with a stick, causing immediate death.
‘The shocking images shared on social media show those responsible displaying the cetaceans’ lifeless body as if it were a trophy.
“This act of extreme and unjustifiable cruelty cannot go unpunished.
‘Dolphins are strictly protected species under Spanish and European law, and mistreatment of them is a serious criminal offence.’
Referring to Seprona, the Guardia Civil’s specialized environmental protection unit, she added: ‘That is why we are launching this petition to demand that the Government Delegation in Ceuta, the Ministry of the Environment and Seprona act with the utmost urgency.
“We demand that all necessary means be used to formally identify those involved in this murder and that the full weight of the law be brought against them, imposing the maximum penalties for the crime of animal cruelty resulting in death.”
A Spaniard who tried to intervene was heard shouting: “They just caught a dolphin, that’s a dolphin, you can’t touch it.”
The man screamed as two of the men lifted the animal above their heads and were egged on by others cheering and laughing behind them, “No, no, no, you can’t do that, you can’t do that, you bastards.”
While it was not immediately clear what the migrants’ intentions were, he added: “It’s a dolphin.” You can’t eat it.’
The migrants signaled to him that the dolphin was dead, with one of them making a gesture of slitting its throat with his hand, although one of the group appeared to try to return it to the water despite its condition.
The Spaniard raged as he left the beach after claims by North Africans that they were not responsible for the apparent death: ‘The beach miraculously killed a dolphin, with blood on its head.
A man later holds the dolphin above his head as he carries it over breakwater blocks
A Spaniard who tried to intervene was heard shouting: ‘They just caught a dolphin, that’s a dolphin, you can’t touch it’
“There you have it, they killed a protected species and a baby dolphin to boot.”
Later, a group of young migrants were filmed taking the animal behind the breakwaters on the beach, which was converted into a makeshift camp after the mass border crossing in July.
It was not clear today what had happened to the dolphin.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets on Wednesday Spain to express their support for Ceuta and protest the government’s handling of the ongoing crisis.
Although most of the migrants who swam into Ceuta returned home soon after, thousands stayed behind and many are sleeping rough because there is no room for them in temporary shelters.
Ceuta and Melilla, another Spanish North African enclave 250 miles east along Morocco’s northern Mediterranean coast, have the EU’s only two land borders with Africa.
Yesterday it emerged that a Spanish woman living in Ceuta had been arrested after allegedly stabbing a man, believed to be a Moroccan migrant, in her home.
Police revealed that the victim was “undocumented” and believed to be between 25 and 30 years old.
He is described as a cousin of the alleged killer.
On Monday, prosecutors in Ceuta revealed that 23 alleged sexual assaults, including five rapes, have been reported since thousands of migrants crossed the Moroccan border.
Nine of the alleged victims are female children and teenagers between the ages of 14 and 17, and another is a gay man, officials said.
Eight men, four Moroccans, three Spaniards and a Belgian, are being investigated, but no one has been arrested or identified in the other cases.
