Dolphin Stabbed to Death Washes Up on Florida Beach

There are some really twisted people out there on the high seas ... because a dead dolphin washed up on a Florida beach, and it had been fatally stabbed in the head.

Beachgoers in Fort Myers stumbled upon the female bottlenose dolphin's dead body late last month ... and there was a gash above the marine mammal's right eye.

It's horrific ... the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says a necropsy shows the dolphin was impaled in the head with a spear-like object while it was still alive.

Even worse, the NOAA says the dolphin appears to have been stabbed while in a begging position ... which is not a natural behavior for dolphins and is commonly associated with illegal feeding.

The dolphin was an adult lactating female ... and NOAA says violent acts towards dolphins are on the rise in the Gulf of Mexico. The feds say this is at least the 27th dolphin since 2002 to wash up on land with evidence of wounds from guns, arrows or sharp objects.