A man was caught on video harassing sea lions in Sister City Park in Monterey

MONTEREY, Calif. (KGO) — Sea lions have once again crowded a Monterey beach, this time at Sister City Park.

“Whenever that happens, they should rename Sister City Park to Seal City Park,” one viewer said.

And this is where the video of a man disturbing the animals was recorded and posted on social media.

The man in the blue shirt appears to be whipping yellow caution tape around to scare away the sea lions that are tumbling down the rocks.

VIDEO: Hundreds of sea lions invade popular Monterey beach, forcing it to get closer to people

“I’m not going to say what I want to say,” Marge Brigadier said.

Marge is a volunteer who comes here every day to answer questions about wildlife. She says people often harass the animals.

“Quite often, whether it’s divers, whether it’s kayakers? That’s mostly what I see,” Brigadier said.

A spokesman for the Marine Mammal Center emphasizes that this is a nationwide problem. This map shows the hotspots that stretch along the coast.

“At least in terms of overall disturbance numbers,” said Adam Ratner of the Marine Mammal Center. “So that includes a wide range of people who are just too into the situation and those who may be trying to help the animal but are not behaving properly. That’s a number we’ve seen grow over the years.”

MORE: Rescue center says you could be unintentionally harming young marine mammals

But he calls that-

“This is obviously an extremely serious case of harassment,” Ratner said.

The video was reported to the government agency. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says it has contacted Monterey police to see if anyone can identify the man in case no one can. NOAA says there likely will be no further action and enforcement is rare.

“I trust their judgment given what’s on their list and how they need to be able to prioritize resources,” Ratner said.

If you see someone hurting or harassing marine animals, you can report it to the NOAA Enforcement Hotline at 808-153-1964.