Federal investigators probe viral video of man throwing rock at monk seal in Maui

A viral shoreline video in Lahaina has put one of Hawai‘i’s most fragile species back in the spotlight. The clip appears to show a man throwing a large rock toward a Hawaiian monk seal swimming offshore, with the rock narrowly missing the animal as bystanders react.

NOAA Fisheries said its Office of Law Enforcement was actively investigating the incident, which officials said happened on May 5, 2026. The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources is also investigating, and DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement Chief Jason Redulla said officers identified the man seen in the video after a report through Maui Police dispatch. As of May 7, 2026, Redulla said the man was not in custody and had not been charged.

The case is being treated as more than a disturbing social media moment because Hawaiian monk seals are protected under the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Hawaii state law. NOAA says actions or attempts to harass, hunt, shoot, capture, trap, kill, collect, wound, harm or pursue a monk seal can bring major fines and, in serious cases, possible criminal penalties. Federal penalties can include fines up to $50,000 and possible jail time, depending on the circumstances and whether prosecutors pursue criminal charges.

The strict enforcement reflects how precarious the species remains. NOAA says Hawaiian monk seals are endemic to Hawai‘i and exist nowhere else on Earth. Archeological and historical records show they occupied the main Hawaiian Islands for at least several hundred years, but hunting expeditions in the 1800s pushed them to near extinction. State officials now estimate the population at about 1,600 seals total, with about 1,200 in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and about 400 in the Main Hawaiian Islands.

NOAA’s recovery goal is to increase the population and eventually down-list the species from endangered to threatened. That effort is still vulnerable to human disturbance, which NOAA describes as one of the major threats to monk seal recovery. The agency has also documented 180 cases of monk seals being hooked or entangled in fishing gear from 1976 to 2018, including 19 fatal incidents.

The Lahaina video adds to a long-running conflict over how Hawai‘i’s beaches are shared. Officials have repeatedly urged people to keep their distance from monk seals and to report sightings rather than approach, touch or disturb them. For a species that has survived centuries in the Hawaiian archipelago and still faces entanglement, disease, shark predation and accidental harm, a thrown rock is not a prank. It is another reminder of how quickly careless human behavior can undermine a recovery already hanging by a thread.