A Washington tourist accused of hurling a rock at a beloved Hawaiian monk seal claims he was actually trying to protect nearby sea turtles during the caught-on-camera encounter that outraged Hawaii locals.
Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk, 38, of Covington, Washington, was charged with harassing a protected animal after authorities said he threw a large rock directly at an endangered monk seal named Lani last Tuesday along the shoreline off Front Street in Lahaina.
Federal prosecutors said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration agents later arrested Lytvynchuk near Seattle.
The monk seal attack quickly exploded online after cellphone footage captured the disturbing encounter.
“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 wrote in a criminal complaint.
Authorities said the coconut-sized rock narrowly missed Lani’s head. The complaint stated the seal “abruptly alter[ed]” her behavior after the rock landed nearby.
Lani has become a widely recognized symbol of Maui’s recovery efforts following the devastating Lahaina wildfires.
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The video sparked immediate outrage across Hawaii, where monk seals are treated as both endangered wildlife and cultural treasures.
Witnesses who confronted Lytvynchuk said he showed little concern after the attack.
According to the criminal complaint, the tourist claimed “he did not care and was ‘rich’ enough to pay any fines.”
Video from the scene also captured him responding directly to one woman filming the incident.
“I don’t care,” Lytvynchuk said. “Fine me. I’m rich.”
The backlash intensified even further after another viral video appeared to show a local Hawaiian physically attacking the alleged seal abuser in broad daylight.
The clip showed a shirtless man approaching Lytvynchuk from behind before knocking him to the ground and unleashing a barrage of punches.
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The footage spread rapidly across social media platforms, where many users openly celebrated the confrontation.
Hawaii state Sen. Brenton Awa later praised the unidentified local during a public meeting while displaying a letter of recognition for what he jokingly called the “Ambassador of Aloha.”
“Some of us have seen environmental activists [sic], I like to call them, who took matters into his own hands to educate what might happen when you mess with our lands or the animals,” Awa said.
“Our attorney over here wants to make it clear we don’t condone violence, but we did make a letter of recognition for Mr. Ambassador of Aloha.”
The Republican lawmaker also suggested airlines should warn incoming tourists about respecting Hawaiian wildlife and local culture.
“And I do just want to say that from our caucus, we see this all the time with people with a different type of mentality coming in and destroying our stuff, essentially, in this case, animals,” Awa said.
“But we’d like at least the airline to play this type of video on all flights incoming so people don’t do this kind of stuff.”
Maui Mayor Richard Bissen also condemned the alleged attack. “Lani is a reminder that humanity and the instinct to protect what is vulnerable are still values people can unite around,” Bissen wrote in an emailed statement following the arrest.
The mayor later made it clear he believed the tourist represented the exact opposite of the values Maui wants visitors to bring onto the island.
“Let me be clear, this is not the kind of visitor we welcome on Maui,” Bissen said in a previous video statement.
As outrage exploded online, Lytvynchuk’s attorney attempted to reframe the encounter as a misunderstanding involving nearby sea turtles.
Defense lawyer Myles Breiner claimed his client believed he was protecting two turtles from the seal.
“There were two large turtles in the water,” Breiner told Hawaii News Now. “When he threw the rock, the intention was to scare the seal away.”
“He had no idea, again, the significance of monk seals,” the attorney continued. “He frankly didn’t know we had seals in Hawaii.”
Breiner argued Lytvynchuk’s previous experience around sea lions while working as a fisherman in Washington shaped his reaction.
According to the attorney, Lytvynchuk believed he was actually helping marine life.
“He assumed that when he saw the seal, the monk seal, pushing the turtles off of the rocks, that he was doing something good by scaring it away,” Breiner said. “He’s devastated at the notion that people thought he wanted to injure the seal.”
The attorney later doubled down during another television interview.
“I want to be resoundingly clear to the public – he never intended to injure the monk seal,” Breiner told KHON-TV News. “He wanted to scare the seal away from the honu he saw there. Sea lions are very aggressive.”
Breiner also tried to explain away his client’s “rich” comments.
“It comes off sounding like he’s bragging or being arrogant,” Breiner said. “OK, and that was possibly in response to people yelling at him and he was embarrassed, so he doubled down.”
“The statement was, ‘I can afford it,’” he added.
The lawyer also revealed the beating seen in the viral video left his client covered in welts.
“He was beaten pretty badly,” Breiner said. “There were no broken bones, but yeah, he had welts all over his back, his head, shoulders.”
Despite the assault, Breiner said Lytvynchuk would not pursue charges against the local man.
“He’s going to pay the price,” Breiner said. “We’re not going into court and saying no, he didn’t do this, but there’s always an explanation.”
“He recognizes he made a bad decision,” the attorney added.
Breiner also said Lytvynchuk is now exploring ways to support wildlife conservation efforts following the controversy.
Lytvynchuk appeared in federal court in Seattle Thursday after being charged under both the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
A judge released him on personal recognizance bond ahead of another court appearance scheduled for May 27 in Honolulu.
Authorities also ordered him to surrender his passport. If convicted, Lytvynchuk faces up to one year in prison on each charge along with potential fines totaling as much as $70,000.
