Almost three dozen people are under investigation after the group was caught allegedly harassing a pod of wild dolphins on the Big Island of Hawaii.
In a press release, Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources said that officials observed the swimmers in Honaunau Bay during a routine patrol in the South Kona District and the swimmers were “aggressively pursuing, corralling and harassing the pod.”
Swimming with dolphins is a popular tourist activity in Hawaii but federal law bans swimming within 50 yards (45 metres) of spinner dolphins over concerns that so many tourists were previously trying to swim with the animals that it was disrupting their sleep cycles – these marine mammals feed during the evening and rest and socialise during the day. An investigation has been launched into the incident.
