In this picture offered by the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, swimmers swim after spinner dolphins in Honanau Bay, Hawaii, March 26, 2023. Hawaii authorities say they’ve referred 33 individuals to U.S. regulation enforcement after the group allegedly harassed a pod of untamed dolphins in waters off the Big Island.

Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources by way of AP

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Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources by way of AP

In this picture offered by the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, swimmers swim after spinner dolphins in Honanau Bay, Hawaii, March 26, 2023. Hawaii authorities say they’ve referred 33 individuals to U.S. regulation enforcement after the group allegedly harassed a pod of untamed dolphins in waters off the Big Island.

Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources by way of AP

Federal regulation enforcement is investigating a gaggle of 33 swimmers who allegedly harassed a pod of dolphins in Hawaii, the state’s Department of Land and Natural Resources stated this week.

Drone movies and images allegedly present the group swimming within the Hōnaunau Bay on Sunday and “​​aggressively pursuing, corralling, and harassing the pod,” the DLNR stated.

Officers with the DLNR’s Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement flagged down the group whereas they had been within the water and alerted them of their violation. When the swimmers obtained again to land, officers from the DLNR and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had been there ready.

DLNR officers are approved “to enforce federal marine laws, such as the Marine Mammal Protection Act,” which was amended in 2021 to ban swimming, approaching or being inside 50 yards of a Hawaiian spinner dolphin inside two nautical miles of the shores of the principle Hawaiian islands and different designated waters.