2 tourists investigated
in alleged harassment of seal

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By Rod Thompson
rthompson@starbulletin.com

POLOLU VALLEY, Hawaii >> Two Colorado tourists who apparently harassed an endangered, possibly pregnant monk seal on the beach of the Big Island's Pololu Valley on Wednesday are under investigation for violation of a state conservation law.

The two men, 20 and 45, could be prosecuted under state and federal laws protecting marine life, said conservation officer Jim Kaulukukui.

The incident was reported by North Kohala businessman John Flynn, who supplied photos, including one of a man with his arm extended forward five feet from the seal's face.

Flynn said the man was waving his hand in the seal's face and shouting at it. The man continued even after Flynn shouted for him to stop, he said.

The seal had been half asleep but spun around and barked when the man approached behind the animal, Flynn said. The seal then crawled around the man and swam out to sea, he said.

A second man is seen in the photo taking pictures.

Flynn said he drove to the Pololu Valley overlook from his gift shop in Kapaau after a friend told him about the seal. In 24 years in Hawaii, Flynn had never seen a monk seal.

When he arrived and walked the trail down the 500-foot slope to the valley floor, he found a half-dozen people watching at a "respectful distance" from the sleepy seal, he said.

"It was perfectly happy. Everybody was sitting away from it. The seal looked at us, then turned away," he said.

He was surprised at the size of the animal, perhaps 8 feet long and very big around, as if pregnant.

As Flynn walked back up the trail, he said he saw the two men harass the seal. Later he saw them at the top, but they did not recognize him.

One was bragging to some women. "Some guy was shouting, 'Stay away from that sea lion,' ha, ha, ha," Flynn heard him say.

Flynn took pictures of their cars and license plates and called conservation officers, who stopped the suspects' cars on the highway a short time later.

State officers questioned the men but did not arrest them, Kaulukukui said.

The men could receive up to a year in jail and a fine of $250 or more under state law. Information also will be turned over to the National Marine Fisheries Service, Kaulukukui said.