Someone could end up paying a hefty fine or serve jail time for the deaths of close to a hundred Native Hawaiian birds.

Neighbors and golfers at Kahuku Golf Course were shocked by what they saw Tuesday morning.

"I walked around the compound and I counted 30 dead birds, neighbor Noyita Saravia said.

30 birds quickly turned out to be close to a hundred.

“Oh there’s a lot more of those...said they were all over all awkward angles and their feet up,” Saravia said.

The Kahuku resident takes her morning stroll along the golf course and watches the wedge tailed shear water birds fly, nest and burrow.

“I cried a lot it was horrible,” Saravia said.

Officials from the department of land and natural resources along with State Biologists were called to investigate what caused the death of these indigenous birds.

“They said there was a lot of trauma, like broken wings and then there were some with blood from puncture wounds,” Saravia said.

Officials say a similar attack happened less than a year ago and may have involved dogs.

“Have you seen dogs running around? All the time you see dogs out here pit bulls and wild ones,” Sunset Beach resident Doug Deal said.

Because the birds are protected by the U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty and the State Wildlife and Forestry division it is illegal to kill them...studies performed on the dead birds reveal they died as a result of trauma.

"I would wish that people would just be responsible for their animals,” Saravia said.

Investigators from the Division of Conservation Resource Enforcement are investigating what happened.

If the pet owner is found responsible for the deaths of the birds, punishment could include a fine as high as $15,000 or six months in jail.