A 37-year-old tourist from Seattle thought it was a good idea to hurl a giant rock at Lani, Hawaii’s most beloved monk seal and a symbol of recovery after the fires. The reality is that he did not count on the local “protective instinct”.
A resident, now nicknamed the “Aloha Ambassador”, physically intervened to defend the animal; with a flurry of punches, he made the attacker taste the mistake he had made, an act that went viral and even received symbolic recognition from state senator Brenton Awa.
The tourist, detained and under NOAA scrutiny, faces a possible $50,000 fine and jail time for violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act.