Tourists in Chongwu Old Town help policemen to carry a dead dolphin on August 17, 2009. [qzwb.com]

A dead dolphin whose skin was black and blue was found lying on a rock on Monday in Chongwu Old Town in coastal Fujian Province, the Southeast Morning News reported.

With its head, back, pectoral fins, and 0.75-meter-wide tail fin badly injured, only the dolphin's skeleton will be used for educational purposes when it goes on display at the Ocean Animal Specimen Center in the town. Now, the center is under construction.

An official of the Oceanic and Fishery bureau in Hui'an Town where Chongwu Old Town located, said the 2.8-meter-long dolphin was a Risso's dolphin, an animal under second-class state protection. These dolphins live mainly in the East Sea, South Sea, and Taiwan Strait in China.

Upon further examination, Ye Huang, a technician at the first aid center for wildlife, said the dolphin likely stuck a reef and died.

"The dolphin's body surface was scraped by rocks, and its head got hit, bleeding a lot," Ye said. "As for its viscera, the abdomen and lung were bloodshot, and the stomach was empty. At that time, its liver had already collapsed."