Outrage as man is filmed throwing rock at distressed seal

Stephen Price

North Wales police have appealed to the public after a man was filmed throwing a rock at a “distressed” seal.

The video, uploaded to YouTube by wildlife filmmaker Jenni Louise Cox on Tuesday, shows a man approaching the lone seal on a cove near the Great Orme in Llandudno, Conwy.

“Common occurrence”

Jenni Louise Cox, said that this kind of treatment is a “common occurrence”.

In the six minute clip, Ms Cox can be heard talking while filming the video from an area above the cove, focusing on the lone seal.

Shortly after beginning filming, she notices two men approaching the seal from above, saying: “The seal is about to be scared off the beach.”

Upset

Almost three minutes in, one man can be seen getting closer to the seal before picking up a rock and throwing it towards the seal.

Clearly upset by the scene unfolding, Jenni begins shouting at the man, who is unable to hear because of the background noises and distance.

She can be heard saying: “Even if I’m shouting, he can’t hear me down there because of the wind.

“I’ve got no signal to phone the wardens.

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

“I hope it bites him. I hope it bloody bites him. Jesus, he’s throwing stuff at it. What kind of idiot is he?

“I don’t know what he’s going to do to it next, it needs to just go. I think thats’s their car up there, I can get their numberplate.”

She confronted the men afterwards and said: “They just denied everything and said ‘What seal’?

She told them: “I just filmed you harassing the seal and you’re going on YouTube.

“There’s no way he can get out of that. Definitely filmed him harassing that seal.”

“I’m so angry.

“It happens a lot more than people know.”

Police hunt

In a post shared to North Wales Police Rural Crime Team’s Facebook page, a spokesperson said: “A recently uploaded YouTube video features footage of a male approaching a lone Grey Seal on a beach near the Great Orme in Llandudno.

“The animal is clearly distressed in the clip, during which the male is seen throwing a rock towards it.”

They continued: “We believe the footage was uploaded to YouTube on Tuesday, 18 June. 

“To progress our enquiries into this incident, we would like to speak with the male pictured in the foreground of this image.

“If you know this person, or have any further information about this incident, please contact us via our live webchat or on 101.”

Newcomers

The colony of grey seals first arrived at the Great Orme in 2017. Numbers have steadily risen since then, with a count in early January finding 178 seals and pups on the shingle at Pigeon’s Cove.

Jenni, who is the Orme’s unofficial seal guardian, has said that she would like to see an outright ban on access the beach to prevent seals abandoning the area.