They had been hoping for a nice day out on the bay. Instead, dolphin-watching tourists in Wales were confronted with the shocking and grisly sight of four adult bottlenose dolphins pursuing and killing a common dolphin calf.
The trip, in Cardigan Bay, was operated by Dolphin Spotting Boat Trips and the Sea Watch Foundation (SWF), a charity that monitors the dolphins in the bay to inform and advise on their conservation status and protection.
Dylan Coundley-Hughes, an intern with the SWF, was on the trip, on which tourists go dolphin-watching alongside experts who are photographing and collecting data on the cetacean population.
The act of cruelty is a known phenomenon amongst animals but is about as understood as cruelty in man.
At the same time, kindness and selflessness have also been observed amongst animals.
Fascinating really.