Man filmed throwing stones at seal

A man has been filmed throwing a stone at a “clearly distressed” seal on a beach.

The video, released on Tuesday, shows the man approaching the animal near the Great Orme in Llandudno, Co Conwy.

Wildlife filmmaker Jenni Louise Cox, who filmed the incident, said this type of treatment was “a common occurrence”.

North Wales Police said they would like to speak with the man in the footage.

In the clip, Ms Cox can be heard shouting at the man towards the beach to leave the gray seal alone, but he continues walking towards him.

He then picks up a stone and throws it at the animal, which flees into the sea.

“I usually don’t get to film it because I’m too busy stopping it,” Ms Cox said.

She explained that access to the beach, known as Pigeons’ Cove, is only restricted on certain dates and that once the signs are removed, people go “straight there” to ” hunt seals.

“At the moment there are no signs telling people to leave the seals alone, so there’s nothing I can do to stop it,” she said.

“I just had to watch it happen.”

In the clip, Ms Cox can be heard saying: “I have no signal to call the guards.

“People just can’t leave the seals alone – I don’t know what’s wrong with them.”

She then confronted the man and another man who had been seen with him, before calling the manager.

“I hate seeing things like this happen, it affects me so much – I’m so angry and I just want to go over there and get them away from the seals.”

Since its publication on YouTube, the video has been viewed nearly 6,000 times.

Ms Cox said some people had said the man might have thought the seal was stranded and was trying to help it.

But she said the seal could be seen trying to escape and it followed.

North Wales Police’s Rural Crime Team said: “The animal is clearly in distress in the clip, during which the male is seen throwing a stone at it.

“We believe the footage was uploaded to YouTube on Tuesday June 18.

“To further our investigation into this incident, we would like to speak with the man.”