In the video, fisherman Allan Marsden carefully lights a small explosive before he throws it at unsuspecting sea lions floating in the water near the boat. After the small explosion, the scared animals vanish under the surface - while someone laughs in the background.
The footage quickly went viral on social media and countless users have expressed harsh criticism for the fisherman’s actions. In a long Instagram post, the Canadian non-profit organization SeaLegacy for example stressed that “setting off explosives next to the head of an animal will cause irreparable damage. If it does not injure it enough to kill, it will probably damage its hearing, or destroy an eye.”
The fisherman who threw the explosive claimed that he tried to disperse and not kill the sea lions as he was checking wether the herring were ready to spawn.
SeaLegacy added that it is “illegal to disturb marine mammals on the B.C. coast, which includes the use of acoustic deterrents such as seal bombs or other explosives.”
The Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) have launched an investigation.
