US tourist arrested for allegedly throwing rock at endangered Hawaiian monk seal

A video of the incident of a coconut-sized rock being hurled towards the animal’s head has drawn widespread condemnation

A tourist from Washington state is facing federal charges after a witness recorded what prosecutors say was a video of him hurling a coconut-sized rock at an endangered Hawaiian monk seal just off a Maui beach last week.

Special agents with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration arrested Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk, 38, in the Seattle area Wednesday, the US attorney’s office in Honolulu said.

Lytvynchuk, who lives in Covington, Washington, was scheduled to appear in US District Court in Seattle on Thursday on charges of harassing and attempting to harass a protected animal.

The video drew widespread condemnation and demands for prosecution in Hawaii, including from Maui’s mayor.

The court docket did not list a lawyer for him, and a person who answered the phone at a number associated with Lytvynchuk declined to comment.

A state Department of Land and Natural Resources officer last week investigated a report of Hawaiian monk seal harassment in Lahaina, the community that was largely destroyed by a deadly wildfire in 2023.