Man given reward after beating up tourist who threw rock at beloved seal

A Hawaiian man is being celebrated as a hero after a video of him beating a tourist went viral online.

People on social media were left with a few choice words after seeing an alleged Seattle tourist chucking a massive rock at a passing monk seal on the shoreline off Front Street in Lahaina, as the man then stood back to watch if it landed.

Bringing a new meaning to the word ‘tosser’, the bloke was subsequently called out by the Hawaiian authorities after he appeared to be seen targeting the endangered animal, known by locals as ‘Lani’.

But what nobody could expect was just how the Senator would react to a swift dose of f*** around – find out, that was handed over just moments after the tourist’s rock throwing.

The incident, which occurred on Tuesday 5 April, according to the Hawaii Department of Natural Resources, was shown to politicians by state Senator Brenton Awa, as he described what happens to outsiders who ‘destroy our stuff’ and attack Hawaiian animals.

The short clip, whilst capturing the 37-year-old tourist, per The Post, also went on to reveal an unknown assailant wailing on the man just moments later in a revenge attack.

Dubbed an ‘activist’ by Awa, the Senator explained during a state meeting that instead of punishing the attacker for punching the rock thrower, he’d like to give him a letter of recognition for defending Lani.

Hawaiian Monk seals are on the endangered list, with NOAA Fisheries noting the species is about one-third of the population it once was around six decades ago.

In Lani’s case, she is a tracked animal, per Hawaiian News Now, and has been known to locals for around seven years – which could be why her attack elicited such a strong reaction.

Dubbed simply as ‘Mr Ambassador of Aloha’, Awa explained: “Some of us have seen environmental activists [sic], I like to call them, who took matters into his own hands to educate what might happen when you mess with our lands or the animals.”

The camera then panned over to a smiling lawyer behind him as he said: “Our attorney over here wants to make it clear we don’t condone violence, but we did make a letter of recognition for ‘Mr Ambassador of Aloha’.”

The politician went on to stress that these incidents have been seen before, when 'people with a different type of mentality’ come to the state and start ‘destroying our stuff, essentially, in this case, animals.’

To prevent people from doing so in the future, Awa pointed to the punches dished out to the tourist in retaliation, noting it should become a campaign of awareness.

“But we’d like at least the airline to play this type of video on all flights incoming so people don’t do this kind of stuff,” he added.

As for the man, while he hasn’t been named, the Hawaii Department of Natural Resources said he was taken in for questioning after launching the rock at Lani, but was then later released without charge.