Federal agents arrested Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk, 38, of Covington, Washington, near Seattle on Wednesday and charged him with harassing and attempting to harass an endangered Hawaiian monk seal, the U.S. attorney’s office in Honolulu announced. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration special agents made the arrest after a state investigation into an incident reported last week in Lahaina, the Maui community that was largely destroyed by a deadly wildfire in 2023.
A state Department of Land and Natural Resources officer investigated the report of monk seal harassment after a witness showed the officer cellphone video of the seal, named Lani, swimming in shallow water while a man watched from shore. In the video, the man can be seen holding a large rock with one hand, aiming, and throwing it directly at the monk seal, according to a criminal complaint cited by prosecutors. The rock, which a witness described as the size of a coconut, narrowly missed the seal’s head but caused the animal to abruptly alter its behavior, the complaint said.
When a witness confronted the man, he responded that he did not care and was rich enough to pay any fines, the complaint stated. The court docket did not list an attorney for Lytvynchuk, and a person who answered the phone at a number associated with him declined to comment. He was scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Thursday.
Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said in an emailed statement that the charges send a clear message that cruelty toward protected wildlife will not be tolerated. He noted that Lani’s return after the wildfires brought a sense of healing and hope during a difficult period for the community. “Lani is a reminder that humanity and the instinct to protect what is vulnerable are still values people can unite around,” Bissen said. The mayor said he called the U.S. attorney in Honolulu to advocate for prosecution.
Hawaiian monk seals are classified as critically endangered, with only 1,600 remaining in the wild. If convicted, Lytvynchuk faces up to one year in prison for each charge, a fine of up to $50,000 under the Endangered Species Act, and an additional fine of up to $20,000 under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.