More than a week ago, in Honolulu, the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) initiated an investigation after a social media posting on Instagram appeared to show an adult male throwing an object toward a monk seal while it was swimming in the water off the Lahaina shoreline.
The tourist had been filmed lifting a large rock from the beach and tossing it at the endangered seal named Lani as the animal swam off along the Lahaina shoreline last Tuesday. The rock missed the seal’s head by inches.
On Wednesday, federal agents arrested Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk, 39, of Covington, Washington who faces charges of harassing a protected animal by throwing a rock the size of a coconut at the endangered seal as she swam along Front Street in Lahaina on May 5,2026.
In addition to the cruelty involved, angered animal lovers and local residents had become even more outraged after the man bragged he was “rich” and would have no trouble paying a fine.
According to prosecutors, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration special agents arrested Lytvynchuk near Seattle. Lytvynchuk had been questioned on May 5 but released after requesting legal counsel.
Prosecutors posted the following:
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
It had been a viral street attack on Lytvynchuk that followed by local Hawaiians outrage caught on Beach Grit.com where a local citizen physically attacked the tourist and knocked him down amid a series of hits.
No doubt the monk seal, has become a symbol of Maui’s recovery following the devastating Lahaina wildfires and the return to a normal and beautiful tourist spot for everyone, including locals to enjoy.
Lytvynchuk is scheduled to appear in US District Court in Seattle on Thursday.
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