Man caught on camera throwing rock at seal

The man continuously approaches the seal before throwing a rock

A man has been filmed throwing a rock at a "clearly distressed" seal on a beach.

The video, posted on Tuesday, shows the man approach the animal near the Great Orme in Llandudno, Conwy county.

Wildlife filmmaker Jenni Louise Cox, who filmed the incident, said that this kind of treatment is a "common occurrence".

North Wales Police said it would like to speak with the man in the footage.

In the clip, Ms Cox can be heard shouting down to the beach at the man to leave the grey seal alone, but he continues to walk towards it.

He then picks a rock and throws it at the animal, which flees back into the sea.

"I don't usually manage to film it because I am too busy stopping it," Ms Cox said.

She explained that access to the beach, known as Pigeons' Cove, is only restricted at certain dates and once the signs are removed people go "straight down there" to "drive the seals away".

"At the moment there's no signs out telling people to leave the seals alone so I couldn't do anything to stop him going down," she said.

"I just had to watch it happen."

In the clip, Ms Cox can be heard saying: "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."

She later confronted the man, and another man who was seen with him, before calling the warden.

"I hate seeing things like that happening, it affects me so much - I am so angry and I just want to get down there and get them away from the seals."

Since posting the video on YouTube it has had almost 6,000 views.

Ms Cox said some people had been saying the man could have thought the seal was stranded and could say he was trying to help him.

But she said the seal could be seen trying to get away and he followed it.

Rural crime police officers want to speak with the man in the foreground of this photo

North Wales Police's rural crime team said: "The animal is clearly distressed in the clip, during which the male is seen throwing a rock towards it.

"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."