Tourist charged after allegedly throwing rock at endangered seal in Hawaii - ABC News
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The alleged act was caught on video.
Tourist charged after allegedly throwing rock at endangered seal in HawaiiU.S. Attorneys Office/District of HawaiiByNadine El-BawabMay 14, 2026, 1:05 PM
A tourist on vacation in Maui has been arrested and charged for allegedly throwing a large rock at an endangered Hawaiian monk seal, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk, 38, has been charged with harassing and attempting to harass an endangered Hawaiian monk seal by throwing a large rock at the seal's head, in violation of the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Hawaii.
Lytvynchuk was filmed walking along the shoreline in the Lahaina area of Maui on May 5, tracking the movements of a Hawaiian monk seal, known as Lani, as she pushed a floating log close to the shoreline, according to prosecutors.
Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk, 38, has been charged with harassing and attempting to harass an endangered Hawaiian monk seal by throwing a large rock at the seal's head.U.S. Attorneys Office/District of Hawaii
Lytvynchuk then picked up a large rock and threw it directly at Lani's head, prosecutors said. The rock narrowly missed Lani's nose, causing her to rear up out of the water, according to prosecutors.
Witnesses told investigators the rock was "the size of a coconut," according to court documents.
Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk, 38, has been charged with harassing and attempting to harass an endangered Hawaiian monk seal by throwing a large rock at the seal's head.U.S. Attorneys Office/District of Hawaii
Another witness told investigators the seal "clearly seemed hurt," but Lytvynchuk did not check on the welfare of the animal before walking away, according to court documents.
Witnesses confronted Lytvynchuk, informing him they had contacted law enforcement. Lytvynchuk allegedly responded that he was "rich enough to pay the fines," before walking away, prosecutors said.
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maybe someone should throw rocks at him. Some people think animals exist only to be eaten and amuse us.
While the 'instant karma' may feel justified, and this entitled asshole certainly deserved punishment, I would not condone the assault. Law enforcement needed to be called and waited on, and they should have been the ones to handle the karma. Who knows if the assault may get this guy off from any other punishment or the guy delivering justice ends up having to go to jail. With that said, there is a part of me that does wish for an eye for an eye type justice. I mean, who wouldn't want to see a bunch of seals encircling this guy and beating the shit out of him?
Arvo..karma will be even better if he gets deported back to Ukraine and then sent to the front..
There he can throw hand grenades and rocks at people who can retaliate and do something useful with his life instead of hiding in the US..
Absolute maggot..
He is for sure one of the least liked people in America.
A major asshole for sure. " I'm rich, I can afford any fines".
can he afford jail time though? inquiring minds want to know .
Maybe a year in Jail plus $70K,
he will plead innocent, pleading self defense and say the Seal was mocking him in Russian !
Who knows? Once they get through with him, ICE may be very interested in how many times he voted here, lol.
What a dumb ass!
Nah - a Monk Seal - wouldn't talk to him - as most monks won't.
Could always send him to Yellowstone , we have a couple bison we call hank the tank that are good at taking care of idiots , one is also very good at de-pantsing peoples .
thats not mentioning the cuddly bears , so far they have 2 notches so far this year with hikers . and since it was a mild winter there hasnt been the usual winter kill carcasses available to them .
i would mention wolves , but they got hit hard with canine distemper this spring so their numbers are down somewhat , but they could use some new chewies .
talk about sending someone to the train station .....
I know i read somewhere he lived in one of the PNW states , cant remember if it said he was a naturalized citizen , if so then yeah , ICE and DOJ have to look into him and whack him in the ding ding hard and send him back where he came from .
Lives in Seattle.
smh
Arvo Frosty...I think his rotten reputation has spread around the world..
Wonder if he would throw a rock at this seal.. it's more his size!!.
We have an elephant seal in the harbour at the moment..
Not my photo..
This one is my photo..😊 he hasn't finished growing yet..
[✘]
What a jerk!
Arvo..I know someone who would have made short work of the feral human bogan..
Should have chucked the maggot in..
Certainly ain't my photo..😳
Can't imagine why not.
Morning.. unfortunately a spear fisherman was just taken yesterday by a 4 metre long great white...over in WA off Rottnest island..
Apparently bit both legs off so had no hope of surviving..very sad but you are sloshing around in their territory...
Oh, that is sad.
if the spear fisher is hunting in great white waters, he's ringing the dinner bell with every kill ...
I suppose that's true, but it's still sad.
he went fishing alright ...
Hawaiian monk seals are held in deep respect by the Hawaiian people. In some places they are even considered to be 'aumakua, which are ancestral guardian spirits. I'm not really surprised that a local was so outraged by the haole guy attempting to hurt a Hawaiian monk seal that he attacked him. The Hawaiians are very protective of their environment and their culture.
Seeing a Hawaiian monk seal is a rare experience. I saw one on a beach on Kaua'i.
This is interesting:
What kind of lowlife douche feels good about themself after making a statement like “I’m rich enough to pay the fines.”
I hope they ban him from Hawaii for life