‘This is really so tiring’

Let sleeping seals lie.

A Redditor r/Hawaii reminded tourists that while nature is beautiful to look at, it must be done from a safe distance.

“The wildlife is beautiful in Hawaii, but make sure you give them some space! A general rule of thumb is to keep at least 3 to 5 feet of space from any animals you encounter. Don’t do what these guys did,” she wrote.

The reposted photo shows a tourist family photo set just meters from a sleeping seal. Even after being warned to ‘get away from (the) protected seal’, the family continued to take photos.

The Hawaiian monk seal is cute, but according to researchers, it is also “one of the most endangered seal species in the world.” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

These types of human-seal interactions are one of the reasons the seal is endangered, along with habitat loss, marine debris entanglement and disease. Human-seal interactions, such as feeding, petting, or waking a seal, “pose a serious human safety concern because seal mothers are protective and aggressive. Human-seal interactions pose both a threat to human and seal,” NOAA said.

These seals weigh hundreds of pounds and can (and will) bite. That’s why NOAA recommends stay at least 15 meters away from monk seals and 50 meters from mother monk seals.

Tourons are ignorant, entitled, and careless, and while there’s no shame in not being aware of rules, customs, or best practices, it’s especially problematic in cases like these, where tourists often don’t listen.

This happens often in Hawaii. In another case, a group of tourists ignored it signs in Mānoa FallsOahu, to swim in a waterfall. Too often, tourists disrupt wildlife, violate them, and leave something extraordinary behind amounts of litter. Not only is this kind of behavior disrespectful to the people who live there, but many of these actions can be dangerous to themselves, others and nature, especially if you approach an animal like a seal without knowing if it carries a disease ​​which would allow it to live. prone to biting, such as happened to a boy last year with a sea lion in California.

Redditors were frustrated with the family, with one commenter commenting calling it’s ‘irritating’.

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“This is really so tiring,” another user said. “I saw a post here asking how Hawaii is marketed to tourists…It is clear from these responses that many tourists feel entitled to anything and everything here, regardless of the rules, laws or regulations.”

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