Bodyboarder seen swinging board at sea lion on New Zealand beach

Footage has emerged of a bodyboarder wildly swinging his board at a juvenile sea lion on a New Zealand beach, sparking anger.

A video of a bodyboarder wildly swinging his board at a sea lion at a New Zealand beach reveals ignorance of the threatened species, a Department of Conservation biodiversity ranger says.

The video, filmed by Darryl Jones, shows a bodyboarder engaging with the wild animal at the water’s edge on the beach in Dunedin yesterday morning, the New Zealand Herald reports.

As the man backs away from the animal, near the base of the sea wall the gap between the two closes, and he swings his board twice at the animal.

Both swings narrowly miss the juvenile sea lion’s head.

Footage of the incident has outraged people.

Mr Jones said he noticed the bodyboarder being prevented from entering the water by a waiting sea lion moving from side to side before he started filming.

If the person in the video had walked away and waited five minutes, the sea lion would have “got bored” and gone back in the water, he said.

“I’ve been a paua diver years ago, I’ve been surfing here for 30 years, I’ve encountered them heaps of times – they’re all bluff.

“They’re just inquisitive.”

Sea lions are naturally inquisitive and it is likely the animal misunderstood the bodyboarder’s actions. Picture: Thinkstock

Doc biodiversity ranger Jim Fyfe said at this time of year people who were not usually at the coast were having their first experience with the wildlife, and often getting it wrong.

In this case, the animal would have interpreted the swings at its head as a form of playing, which could have created more problems for the bodyboarder.

“It’s just ignorance,” he said.

Mr Fyfe advised people to be aware of their surroundings and if there was a sea lion in the water, to wait, or head along the beach.

This story first appeared on the New Zealand Herald and is reproduced with permission