STORY: A group of activists displayed the carcass of a dolphin killed in a recent encounter with a fishing boat in central Paris on Saturday (March 28) to call for action to prevent the deaths of the animals.

The dolphin was laid on a bloody sheet near the Eiffel Tower as tourists strolled by in the sunshine. Activists held up signs reading "This is not an accident", saying thousands of the animals are killed accidentally by fishing vessels each year.

Canadian conservationist Paul Watson said the fishing industry was not investing the time and money necessary to prevent dolphins being killed.

"They know they're killing dolphins. So how could it be accidental when you know that that's going to happen?" Watson said.

Sea Shepherd said in a press release it wanted France to make regular closures of fishing zones to reduce conflicts between ships and dolphins to reduce deaths of the animals and give them time to boost their numbers.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: PARIS, FRANCE (MARCH 28, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF DEAD DOLPHIN KILLED IN ACCIDENT WITH FISHING BOAT LYING ON SHEET AT PROTEST CALLING FOR ACTION TO PREVENT DOLPHIN DEATHS

2. ACTIVISTS FROM CONSERVATION GROUP 'SEA SHEPHERD' HOLDING BANNER READING (English): "THOUSANDS OF DOLPHINS ARE KILLED EACH YEAR IN FRANCE SO THAT YOU CAN EAT FISH"

3. SIGN READING (French): "This is a real dead dolphin"

4. VARIOUS OF DEAD DOLPHIN LYING ON SHEET

5. ACTIVISTS HOLDING BANNER IN FRONT OF EIFFEL TOWER

6. ACTIVIST AND SAILOR, PAUL WATSON, SPEAKING

7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTIVIST AND SAILOR, PAUL WATSON, SAYING:

"This dolphin was found off the coast of Brittany, and it was killed by a French fishing boat. Now, that's a legal fishery. But killing dolphins under European law, French law is illegal. But the excuse in every single case is it's accidental, and because it's accidental, then there's nothing, nothing's done about it. They're allowed to get away with it. But they know they're killing dolphins. So how could it be accidental when you know that that's going to happen? So what we're calling for is more protective measures to protect the dolphins from the fishing industry, because this just can't keep going on. We can't keep killing dolphins in order to, you know, to protect the fishing industry."

8. DOLPHIN'S FIN

9. ACTIVISTS HOLDING SIGNS

10. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTIVIST AND SAILOR, PAUL WATSON, SAYING:

"They should have observers on the boats. They should make sure that measures are taken to not set nets on dolphins, and if dolphins are caught in nets, measures should be taken to have them released right away. But the problem is, is that costs time and money, and the fishing industry doesn't want to waste that time and money to do it. But I think that we have a responsibility; we have an obligation to do everything we can to protect the dolphins."

11. DOLPHIN ON SHEET

12. ACTIVIST HOLDING SIGN READING (French): "CLOSE FISHING ZONES NOW"

13. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTIVIST AND SAILOR, PAUL WATSON, SAYING:

"Most people in France didn't even know this was happening. You know, it's out there, it's out in the water, it's on the beaches; they're not exposed to that. This is bringing reality into the city. We've done this in front of the steps of the (French) National Assembly, in front of the European Parliament in Brussels, and of course here, because a lot of tourists are there. It's in order to get people to see what nobody really has been able to see or even wants to see, but the killing of dolphins is a major problem."

14. ACTIVISTS HOLDING SIGNS READING (French): "THIS IS NOT AN ACCIDENT" AND "EACH WINTER, THOUSANDS OF DOLPHINS ARE KILLED IN THE BAY OF BISCAY"

15. VARIOUS OF ACTIVISTS PUTTING DOLPHIN ON STRETCHER TO REMOVE IT

16. PEOPLE IN FRONT OF EIFFEL TOWER