A man, who calls himself “Dolphin Dave” is facing charges after state officials said he harassed humpback whales and dolphins.
Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources officials posted on Facebook over the weekend saying that they were inundated with calls about a man “pursuing a humpback whale,” CBS News reported.
The office of Governor Josh Green said in a press release that the DLNR’s Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) had a video sent to them showing a man snorkeling close to a humpback whale and nearly touching its fin.
Then on Monday, an officer with DOCARE went to Kealakekua Bay on Hawai’i Island and recorded the man, identified as David Jiménez, 65, swimming after a pod of spinner dolphins with a group of people swimming behind him.
The governor’s office said that both whales and dolphins are protected by state and federal laws and Jiménez has been cited for prohibited acts in regard to endangered whale species and harassing wildlife in a state park.
When questioned by the DOCARE officer, Jiménez said he’s not going to stop swimming with the aquatic life “because it’s magical and others do much worse things,” the DLNR said on Facebook.