A tourist from Washington state has been arrested by federal agents after a witness recorded him hurling a coconut-sized rock at an endangered Hawaiian monk seal on a Maui beach. The incident, which sparked widespread outrage in Hawaii, highlights the ongoing threats faced by one of the world’s rarest marine mammals.
Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk, 38, of Covington, Washington, was taken into custody Wednesday by NOAA special agents near Seattle. He faces charges of harassing and attempting to harass a protected animal, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Honolulu. Lytvynchuk is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Thursday. The court docket did not list an attorney, and a person who answered a phone number associated with Lytvynchuk declined to comment.
The arrest follows an investigation by a state Department of Land and Natural Resources officer last week into a report of monk seal harassment in Lahaina – the community largely destroyed by a deadly wildfire in 2023. A witness showed the officer cellphone video of the seal swimming in shallow water while a man watched from shore.
“In the cellphone video, the man can be seen holding a large rock with one hand, aiming, and throwing it directly at the monk seal,” prosecutors said in a criminal complaint. The rock, described by a witness as the size of a coconut, narrowly missed the seal’s head but caused the “animal to abruptly alter its behavior,” the complaint states.
When a witness confronted the man, he reportedly said “he did not care and was ‘rich’ enough to pay any fines,” according to the complaint.
The targeted monk seal, known affectionately as “Lani,” is a beloved figure in the community. Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said the charges send a clear message that cruelty toward protected wildlife will not be tolerated. “Lani’s return after the wildfires brought a sense of healing and hope during a difficult time,” Bissen said in an emailed statement. “Lani is a reminder that humanity and the instinct to protect what is vulnerable are still values people can unite around.”
Hawaiian monk seals are critically endangered, with only about 1,600 remaining in the wild. If convicted, Lytvynchuk faces up to one year in prison for each charge, as well as fines up to $50,000 under the Endangered Species Act and up to $20,000 under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
