Operator of Neil the seal merchandise website fined for false claims

The operator of a former website that sold Neil the seal merchandise has been fined, after "falsely" claiming links with conservation organisations.

The website claimed to donate a percentage of its profits towards marine wildlife conservation.

The website was taken down earlier this year.

The operator of a website that claimed to donate a percentage of its profits from Neil the seal merchandise to conservation efforts has been fined by a New South Wales regulator.

The 'Neil the seal official' website, which has since been taken down, advertised merchandise featuring the popular elephant seal that visits beaches in Tasmania's south biannually.

On its website, the company stated it financially supported marine conservation, with a "portion of every purchase" going towards "marine conservation work protecting seals, sea lions, and ocean ecosystems in Australia and beyond".

It said it was "building formal partnerships with conservation organisations" and that "direct donate links and clearer reporting on impact will be published here as those partnerships are confirmed".

The conservation organisations the website initially claimed to "support and recommend" included the Australian Marine Conservation Society, WWF Australia, Tasmania's Department of Natural Resources and Environment (listed on the website under its former name of DPIPWE) and the Marine Mammal Foundation.

But the three organisations and the government department told the ABC earlier this year they had not had any contact with the company, nor had they received any donations from it.

After being contacted by the ABC earlier this year, the website tweaked its wording to say "organisations we recommend", and removed references to "official partnership details coming soon".

It also added links to donate directly to the organisations, but shortly afterwards, the website was taken down.

New South Wales Fair Trading carried out an investigation into the site and, in a statement, a spokesperson said it "found the operator of the 'Neil the seal' website falsely claimed an affiliation with conservation organisations".

The merchandise listed on the since-shut website claimed a sticker it was selling, depicting Neil the seal, was designed by a "local artist".

But OpenAI's tool for detecting AI-generated images found the sticker was created "using OpenAI tools".

Multiple other items received the same result.