Ricky Gervais has joined the outcry after a group of migrants in the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta were filmed seizing a young dolphin from the water at Trampolin Beach on Wednesday, September 2.
Video footage shows migrants hoisting the calf above their heads and displaying it as though it were a trophy.
The disturbing footage, which has since circulated widely on social media, shows a crowd of men and boys gathering around the small marine mammal, with some cheering as it was lifted aloft.
According to local media outlet El Faro de Ceuta, the disoriented calf had been swimming close to the shoreline before it was dragged from the water.
The mammal was held aloft like a trophy | SOLARPIX
During the commotion, one of the men allegedly struck the animal on the head with a stick, inflicting fatal injuries, Spanish broadcaster Telecinco reported.
After the incident hit headlines around the globe, comedian and animal rights activist Mr Gervais added to the uproar over the weekend.
Taking to X, Mr Gervais responded to a news article about the incident with the Latin phrase: “Noxiae poena par esto.”
The phrase loosely translates to “let the penalty be equal to the crime” or “let the punishment fit the offence”.
noxiae poena par esto
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) September 4, 2026
In the video, which appears to have been recorded by someone within the group itself, two officials wearing high-visibility jackets and gloves are seen rushing to examine the calf on the shoreline, only for several migrants to crowd around them moments later.
One man was seen dragging the dolphin by its face out of the sea and onto the rocks before lifting it up with a grin so that others, including young teenagers, could touch it.
Despite an official’s attempts to persuade him to release the animal, the pleas were ignored.
Furious local residents rushed onto the beach to intervene, with cries of “no” audible in the footage. They eventually managed to pull the calf away and return it to the water, but according to local reports, the animal was already dead.
Ricky Gervais is an award-winning stand-up comedian
|
NETFLIXLATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
The incident prompted resident Nadia Garcia Gomez to launch an online petition demanding that those responsible be identified and prosecuted.
In a post accompanying a photograph of one of the men holding the calf, she wrote: “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.”
She added: “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.”
Ricky Gervais is also well known for his animal rights activism
|
GETTYA witness subsequently claimed to local media that the dolphin had been alive when it was discovered near the shore, though the precise circumstances of its death have not been officially confirmed.
Other residents of Ceuta have gone further, calling for those involved to face prosecution and deportation from Spain.
The dolphin killing has deepened tensions in an enclave already engulfed by crisis. In late July, an estimated 70,000 or more migrants overwhelmed Ceuta’s border defences in a massive surge from neighbouring Morocco, with at least 145 people dying during the crossing.
Although the vast majority subsequently returned to Morocco voluntarily, thousands have stayed. Nearly five weeks on, over 10,000 migrants remain in makeshift camps or scattered across the enclave’s streets and beaches, according to local authorities.
Their continued presence has triggered near-daily demonstrations by residents demanding deportations and a firmer response from Madrid. Last week, angry locals dismantled migrant tents and shelters at the very same beach where the dolphin was killed.
Spanish prosecutors have disclosed that 23 sexual assaults, nine of them against young children, have been reported in Ceuta since the border breach.