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A group of migrants in Ceuta were filmed holding a a baby dolphin aloft around a beach on the Spanish exclave.
Footage shows the crowd of men all trying to touch the small marine mammal after it was picked up from the shoreline.
While two men in high-vis jackets and gloves run over and check on the calf, the mammal is instead lifted aloft like a trophy.
One migrant allegedly hit the animal on the head with a stick and seriously injured it before it later died.
Shouts of "no" can be heard in the video, with some men seen cheering and others looking concerned at the treatment of the animal, with someone eventually taking the mammal and placing them back in the water.
Now, a petition has been set up calling for those involved to be prosecuted.
Nadia Garcia Gomez launched the petition as she claimed in a post: "On Wednesday, September 2, 2026, a disoriented dolphin calf swimming near the shore at Trampolin Beach, in Ceuta, was brutally pulled from the water.
"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."
The mammal was held aloft like a trophy
|SOLARPIX
Nadia continued: “This act of extreme and unjustifiable cruelty cannot go unpunished. Dolphins are strictly protected species under Spanish and European laws, and mistreatment of them constitutes a serious criminal offence.
“We demand that all necessary resources be used to formally identify those involved in this killing and that the full weight of the law fall upon them."
A witness has since told local media the dolphin was alive when it was found near the shoreline and alleged that it was struck.
However, the circumstances surrounding the death have not been officially confirmed.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Pedro Sanchez addressed the issue in the Spanish Parliament
|REUTERS
The ongoing crisis in the Spanish exclave is continuing to cause a headache for socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez as he continues to deal with the fallout from the deadly rush.
Speaking in parliament, Prime Minister Sánchez responded to claims in the report that emerged this week suggesting the entry of over 70,000 people into Ceuta was not a spontaneous migration but a planned effort to overwhelm border controls.
He said: "I can assure you that no institution, not the diplomatic service, nor the European Commission, nor any international body, has provided the Spanish government with any solid evidence that Morocco planned or carried out the incident. None whatsoever."
However, he said Moroccan police did allow crossings to occur during a key 10-hour period on July 30, when migrant arrivals peaked, adding Spanish authorities had yet to determine whether this was due to inaction or inability to contain the influx.
Migrants try to make their way past Spanish police officers in the exclave
|REUTERS
Nearly five weeks after the surge, over 10,000 migrants, including unaccompanied minors, remain stranded in makeshift camps or scattered across streets and beaches in the enclave, according to Ceuta's authorities.
Their presence has triggered near-daily protests by locals against Madrid's management of the crisis, with demonstrators calling for the migrants to be sent back to their countries of origin or redistributed across Spain.
David Hernandez, a 45-year-old teacher said: "The response has been inadequate, late and, to top it all, has involved a complete dereliction of duty on the part of the government.
"We cannot be second-class citizens, and our border must not be sidelined."
Ceuta residents destroyed a migrant camp by the beach | REUTERSRecent protests featured sporadic attacks against a makeshift migrant camp at El Trampolin beach and arrests of Moroccan citizens who lobbed stones and bottles at army patrols.
A manifesto by citizens' initiative "Por Ceuta'" (For Ceuta), which calls for respect for residents' and migrants' human rights, the orderly return of those without the right to remain, and more security reinforcements, has garnered nearly 65,000 signatures.
The initiative insists it has no political affiliation.
Left-wing collectives and unions organised counter-gatherings in several cities, including Madrid, to condemn "racist and Islamophobic persecutions and attacks" against migrants in Ceuta since the rush.
Negotiations between local and central government on how to handle the crisis are deadlocked, with the PP, which governs most regions, some in coalition with the hard-right Vox, calling for all those remaining, including minors, to be deported.