US agents arrest tourist after video shows a rock hurled at an endangered Hawaiian monk seal’s head
HONOLULU (AP) — A tourist from Washington state faces federal charges after a witness recorded video of him throwing what prosecutors say was a coconut-sized rock at himself. an endangered Hawaiian monk seal Just off Maui beach last week.
Special agents with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration arrested Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk, 38, in the Seattle area on Wednesday, the U.S. attorney’s office in Honolulu said. Lytvynchuk, of Covington, Washington, was scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Thursday on charges of molesting and attempting to molest a protected animal.
The video sparked widespread condemnation and calls for prosecution in Hawaii, including from the mayor of Maui.
The court filing did not list an attorney for him, and a person who answered the phone at a number linked to Lytvynchuk declined to comment.
A state Department of Land and Natural Resources officer last week investigated a report of Hawaiian monk seal harassment in the community of Lahaina, which was decimated by an attack. Deadly forest fire in 2023. A witness showed the officer video of the seal swimming in shallow water, which a man watched from shore.
“The cellphone video shows the man holding a large rock with one hand, aiming it, and throwing it directly at the seal,” prosecutors said in a criminal complaint. he said. The rock, which an eyewitness described as the size of a coconut, narrowly missed the seal’s head but caused “the animal to suddenly change its behavior,” the complaint said.
When a witness confronted the man, he said he “didn’t care and was ‘rich’ enough to pay any fine,” according to the complaint.
Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said the charges send a clear message that cruelty to protected wildlife will not be tolerated. He identified the seal as “Lani,” a well-known and beloved character on the Lahaina coast who brought a sense of healing and hope during a time of hard return after the wildfires.
But it probably wasn’t Lani because it lacked certain markings, the state’s natural resources department said in an email.
“Humanity and the instinct to protect the defenseless are still values around which people can unite,” Bissen said in an emailed statement. he said.
The mayor said he called the U.S. attorney in Honolulu to argue for the prosecution.
Lytvynchuk is accused of violating the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Hawaiian monk seals are a critically endangered species. Only 1,600 remain in the wild.
If convicted, Lytvynchuk faces up to a year in prison on each charge. He also faces a fine of up to $50,000 under the Endangered Species Act and a fine of up to $20,000 under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
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Johnson reported from Seattle. Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy contributed to this report.
