Federal prosecutors charge man in rock attack on Hawaiian monk seal

Federal prosecutors say a witness-recorded video shows Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk throwing a large rock at the head of a Hawaiian monk seal named Lani on a Maui beach, a confrontation they say crossed the line from public anger into a federal wildlife crime. The 38-year-old from Covington, Washington, was charged by criminal complaint on May 12, 2026, with harassing and attempting to harass an endangered Hawaiian monk seal, in alleged violations of the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

According to the complaint, the rock was thrown during an incident on Maui, and Lytvynchuk later made arrangements to surrender in the Seattle area as NOAA Fisheries special agents were seeking to arrest him. The video evidence, paired with witness accounts, gives prosecutors the clearest path to proving the assault on the protected animal. The defense has countered that Lytvynchuk was assaulted, doxed and threatened, and that he was allegedly trying to protect sea turtles, setting up a clash between competing accounts that now runs through a federal wildlife case.

The episode has stirred strong reaction in Hawaii, where monk seals are both a conservation symbol and a source of intense public attachment. Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said he called the U.S. attorney in Honolulu to advocate for prosecution, describing Lani’s return after the wildfires as a symbol of healing and hope. That response reflects how quickly a beachside encounter can become a community flashpoint when the animal involved is one of the state’s most closely watched endangered species.

NOAA Fisheries says the Hawaiian monk seal is one of the most endangered seal species in the world and a Species in the Spotlight. The agency says the population is growing, but it remains only about a third of its historic size. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says monk seals were first recorded in 1825 at Kure Atoll, and materials from the two agencies place the remaining wild population at roughly 1,100 to 1,200 seals in the Hawaiian Islands or about 1,400 in the wild. Endemic to Hawaii and mostly found in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, the species is appearing more often in the main Hawaiian Islands, where crowded beaches bring people and seals into closer, more dangerous contact.