United States. In Hawaii, a tourist filmed throwing rocks at an endangered seal.

A video filmed on the island of Maui, Hawaii, on May 5, has sparked outrage on social media. It shows a man on the beach, facing the sea, where a seal is swimming peacefully. But the man, an American tourist, then throws a large stone at the seal. The projectile seems to land very close to the animal’s head, causing it to panic and flee.

“What are you doing? Why are you throwing a stone at him?” asked Kaylee Schnitzer, the woman who recorded the video, in horror. “We told him we had called the police, and he replied, ‘I don’t care. Give me a fine, I’m rich,'” she testified to Hawaiian media KHON 2.

The man in question is said to have targeted a monk seal, an endangered species of which there are only about 1,600 individuals left in Hawaii. The seal, known as Lani, is well-known to Maui residents. Environmental authorities are unsure of Lani’s exact health status at the moment. Fortunately, the video seems to show that the stone narrowly missed the animal’s head. Those who witnessed this incident alerted the police, who intervened.

In the United States, harming an endangered species is prohibited and punishable by a hefty fine of $50,000 or even imprisonment. The man was apprehended. However, when authorities wanted to question him about the incident, the suspect invoked his rights and requested a lawyer, making questioning impossible. He was released, but an investigation has been opened. The man could be charged in the coming days or weeks.

“This is not the kind of visitors we want to welcome to Maui,” reacted the island’s mayor, Richard Bissen. This sentiment was shared by residents because, according to another video shared on social media, the suspect of the seal attack allegedly received blows from a local as he tried to leave the beach.