(AP) — U.S. authorities launched an investigation and fined Louisiana tourists honeymooning in Hawaiʻi after a video on social media showed a woman touching an endangered Hawaiian monk seal. A video posted on TikTok and other social media showed a woman touching the seal at a Kauaʻi beach in June. The video showed her running away after the seal snapped at her. Her husband tells the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that they’re sorry. There are an estimated 1,100 Hawaiian monk seals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and 300 in the main Hawaiian Islands. It’s a felony to touch or harass the animals.
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