That guy who threw a big rock at an endangered seal is actually going to court and could get fined up to $70,000 NT
That guy who threw a big rock at an endangered seal is actually going to court and could get fined up to $70,000 and a year in prison! Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk, a 38-year-old from Covington, Washington, strolled up to the Lahaina shoreline in Maui on May 5th, picked up a rock the size of a coconut and hurled it directly at “Lani,” a beloved and critically endangered Hawaiian monk seal. The rock narrowly missed her head and sent her lurching out of the water. When witnesses confronted him on the spot, he told them he was “rich enough to pay the fines” and walked away. With only about 1,600 Hawaiian monk seals left in the wild, the move wasn’t just cruel. It was a perfect encapsulation of a certain kind of wealthy entitlement that genuinely believes money is a get-out-of-consequences-free card.
Hawaii had a different take on that theory. A local man confronted Lytvynchuk moments later and delivered some real-time education via fists. The video went viral almost immediately. Rather than quietly condemn it, state Senator Brenton Awa showed the footage during a legislative meeting and awarded the anonymous vigilante a formal letter of recognition, dubbing him the “Ambassador of Aloha.” His own attorney clarified that they “don’t condone violence,” which was apparently said with a straight face right before handing over the award for violence.
The federal government moved fast. NOAA special agents arrested Lytvynchuk near Seattle, and he appeared in U.S. District Court facing charges under both the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act, with up to $70,000 in fines and a year in federal prison on the table. Maui Mayor Richard Bissen made clear this wasn’t just about one seal, noting that Lani is part of the community’s “ocean ohana,” especially after she returned to Lahaina following the devastating 2023 wildfires. No amount of money buys you the right to terrorize an endangered animal, and some communities take that seriously enough to put it in writing.
