(AP) — U.S. authorities say a Louisiana woman who was honeymooning in Hawaiʻi has been fined $500 after a social media video showed her touching an endangered Hawaiian monk seal. A video posted on TikTok and other social media showed a woman touching the seal at a Kauai beach in June. The Honolulu Star Advertiser reported that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration launched an investigation last month and found the woman violated the Endangered Species Act. 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 seals.
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