A tourist was widely condemned in Hawaii after a witness recorded him throwing a coconut-sized rock at Lani, a beloved endangered Hawaiian monk seal on a Maui beach, after being arrested by federal agents on Wednesday.
Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk, 38, of Covington, Washington, was charged with molesting a protected animal, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Honolulu said, adding that agents from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration arrested him near Seattle. He is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Thursday.
No attorney was listed in court records, and a person who answered a call at a number associated with Litvinchuk declined to comment.
State Department of Land and Natural Resources officials last week investigated reports of Hawaiian monk seal harassment in Lahaina, a community that was largely destroyed in a deadly wildfire in 2023. A witness showed officials video of the seal swimming in shallow water while a man watched from the shore.
“In the cell phone video, the man can be seen holding a large rock in one hand, aiming it and throwing it directly at the monk seal,” prosecutors said in a criminal complaint. Witnesses described the rock as being the size of a coconut, narrowly missing the seal’s head but causing “a sudden change in the animal’s behavior,” according to the complaint.
When a witness confronted the man, he said “he didn’t care and was ‘rich’ enough to pay any fine,” the complaint states.
Maui County Mayor Richard T. Bissen Jr. addressed the incident in a video posted on social media. – Maui County/Instagram
Maui Mayor Richard Beason said the charges send a clear message: Abuse of protected wildlife will not be tolerated. He said Lani’s return after the wildfires brought a sense of healing and hope during difficult times.
“Lani is a reminder that humanity and the instinct to protect the vulnerable remain values around which people can rally,” Beeson said in an emailed statement.
The mayor said he called the U.S. attorney in Honolulu to advocate for prosecution.
Litvinchuk is accused of harassing and attempting to harass endangered Hawaiian monk seals.
Hawaiian monk seals are a critically endangered species. Only 1,600 remain in the wild.
If convicted, Litvinchuk faces up to one year in prison on each charge. He also faces fines of up to $50,000 under the Endangered Species Act and up to $20,000 under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
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