A federal investigation may be coming for a person filmed throwing a rock at a monk seal on Maui.
A video of a man on a Lahaina beach throwing a rock at a monk seal circulated on social media Wednesday and attracted the attention of the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Conservation and Resource Enforcement.
DOCARE Chief Jason Redulla told Aloha State Daily and other media Wednesday that DOCARE officers have confronted a person matching the description of the person in the video and begun an investigation.
Redulla said the condition or identity of the seal has not been confirmed. The video seems to show the rock narrowly missing the animal’s snout, splashing down directly in front of the seal’s face, prompting the seal to swim away.
While Redulla said DOCARE cannot release the man’s name yet, he said DOCARE will turn over their investigation to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Law Enforcement for possible charges under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The animals are also protected under the Endangered Species Act.
Harassment of a monk seal is considered “taking” the animal under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Meanwhile, Hawai‘i laws impose fines of up to $50,000 for the taking of a monk seal.
Redulla said previous incidents of monk seal harassment have resulted in fines in the thousands of dollars.
The alleged perpetrator is not in custody as of yet, Redulla said.
Meanwhile, Redulla urged people to continue to keep their distance from a mother and pup monk seal duo on Kaimana Beach in Waikīkī. The 15-year-old seal Kaiwi gave birth to a pup, her seventh, on May 3 and they remain resting on the beach.
Redulla said mother seals have been known to attack people they perceive as threats to their young. At the same time, he said, the pup — whose sex has not yet been determined, and who therefore remains unnamed — will soon begin a critical part of its development into an animal that can survive in the wild independently, and should not be disturbed.
People are reminded to stay at least 150 feet away from the seals and to not approach within a fenced area around the animals.
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