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Federal agents arrested a tourist near Seattle after prosecutors charged him in Hawaii with harassing an endangered Hawaiian monk seal, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Honolulu.
The office said the man, identified as Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk, 38, of Covington, Washington, is charged with harassing and attempting to harass a Hawaiian monk seal. Prosecutors said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration special agents carried out the arrest Wednesday, and Lytvynchuk was scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Thursday.
The charges follow a widely condemned incident captured in a witness-recorded video, in which the seal was identified as “Lani.” A state Department of Land and Natural Resources officer investigated a report of harassment in Lahaina, the community that was largely destroyed by a deadly wildfire in 2023, after a witness showed the officer footage of the seal swimming in shallow water while a man watched from shore.
In court filings, prosecutors described the video as showing the man holding a large rock with one hand, aiming, and throwing it directly at the monk seal. The rock was described by a witness as about the size of a coconut, and prosecutors said it narrowly missed the seal’s head but caused the animal to abruptly alter its behavior.
When a witness confronted the man, prosecutors said he replied that he did not care and was “rich” enough to pay any fines. The criminal complaint also alleges that the seal’s behavior changed immediately after the throw.
Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said in an emailed statement that the case shows officials will not tolerate cruelty toward protected wildlife. Bissen said he called the U.S. attorney’s office in Honolulu to advocate for prosecution and said “Lani” has come to symbolize recovery for residents after the wildfires.
Bissen said the seal’s return after the wildfires brought “healing and hope during a difficult time,” adding, “Lani is a reminder that humanity and the instinct to protect what is vulnerable are still values people can unite around,” according to the statement.
Prosecutors said Hawaiian monk seals are critically endangered, with about 1,600 believed to remain in the wild. If convicted, Lytvynchuk faces up to one year in prison for each charge, along with possible fines of up to $50,000 under the Endangered Species Act and up to $20,000 under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
The court docket for Lytvynchuk’s case did not list an attorney, and a person who answered a phone number associated with him declined to comment. Associated Press reporter Jennifer Sinco Kelleher contributed to the report.