When a baby dolphin washed up on a crowded beach in Argentina, everyone wanted a photo with the animal. 

The young mammal was paraded throughout the crowd as people desperately tried to take pictures and selfies with the defenceless creature. 

The so-called Franciscana dolphin was later found dead on the same beach having died from suspected dehydration. 

"The Franciscana, like other species, cannot remain for much time outside of the water," said the Animal Foundation of Argentina who quickly issued a statement on the incident. 

"It has thick fatty skin which gives it heat and means that taking it out of the water rapidly causes it to dehydrate and die. 

"This occasion serves to inform the public about the urgent necessity to return these dolphins to the sea as soon as possible if they find them on the shore."

And according to the organisation, it is more important now than ever as only 30,000 of this species remains in the world's oceans. 

"It is fundamental that people help to rescue these animals, because every Franciscana counts now."

The healthy dolphin, which could have lived up to twenty years in it's natural habitat, was still being photographed as it lay dead on the Buenos Aires beach.