{"id":705151,"date":"2026-05-31T04:40:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T04:40:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/705151\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T04:40:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T04:40:35","slug":"man-accused-of-throwing-rock-at-endangered-seal-barred-from-hawaii-beaches-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/705151\/","title":{"rendered":"Man accused of throwing rock at endangered seal barred from Hawaii beaches – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

A man who had been arrested and criminally charged after federal authorities said he was caught on video throwing a rock<\/a> at an endangered monk seal<\/a> in Hawaii pleaded not guilty Wednesday, and was ordered to stay away from Hawaii beaches while the case proceeds.<\/p>\n

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Earlier this month, the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for the District of Hawaii announced<\/a> that Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk, 38, of Covington, Wash., was charged by criminal complaint on Tuesday with \u201charassing and attempting to harass an endangered Hawaiian monk seal by throwing a large rock at the seal\u2019s head, in violation of the Endangered Species<\/a> Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lytvynchuk appeared in U.S. District Court in Honolulu Wednesday, where he pleaded not guilty to charges of harassing and attempting to harass a protected animal.<\/p>\n

U.S. Magistrate Judge Rom Trader allowed him to remain free pending the criminal case but ordered him to stay away from beaches and marine wildlife while in Hawaii, the Associated Press reported.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou\u2019re not going to the beach, you understand that,\u201d Trader told Lytvynchuk, who responded that he understood.<\/p>\n

Lytvynchuk declined to comment after the hearing.<\/p>\n

Before his hearing on Wednesday, the defence lawyer for Lytvynchuk said that his client was trying to protect sea turtles and has since been physically assaulted, threatened and doxed, according to The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

After a witness allegedly confronted Lytvynchuk for throwing the rock, his lawyers claim that a man \u201cbrutally assaulted\u201d Lytvynchuk, who declined to file a police report on the assault.<\/p>\n

His lawyer Myles Breiner told The Associated Press that\u00a0his client had been to Hawaii previously and was familiar with sea turtles, but not Hawaiian monk seals. Lytvynchuk is a fisherman and thought the seal was an aggressive sea lion, the lawyer said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo his response was not to hurt this monk seal, but to get it away from the turtles,\u201d Breiner said.<\/p>\n

His lawyer claims that since a social media video surfaced of Lytvynchuk appearing to throw the rock at the endangered animal, his client has faced death threats and doxing.<\/p>\n

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On Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for the District of Hawaii announced<\/a> that Lytvynchuk has been formally charged with \u201ctaking\u201d an endangered Hawaiian monk seal by throwing a large rock at the seal\u2019s head, in violation of the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act.<\/p>\n

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\u201cUnder the statutes, a \u2018taking\u2019 includes, among other things, harassing, harming, pursuing, hunting, wounding, and killing a protected species, or attempting to do so. \u00a0Lytvynchuk was previously charged by criminal complaint on May 12, 2026 and arrested the following day, near Seattle, Washington by Special Agents of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,\u201d the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cToday\u2019s charges against Igor Lytvynchuk demonstrate our solemn commitment to not only protect Hawaii\u2019s endangered monk seals, but all of our unique and endangered wildlife species from those who illegally harass, injure, or attempt to take them in defiance of federal law,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson. \u201cIgor Lytvynchuk now stands formally charged for these alleged offenses and will face justice in federal court.\u201d<\/p>\n

On May 13, the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for the District of Hawaii announced<\/a> that Lytvynchuk was charged by criminal complaint on Tuesday with \u201charassing and attempting to harass an endangered Hawaiian monk seal by throwing a large rock at the seal\u2019s head, in violation of the Endangered Species<\/a> Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lytvynchuk was arrested on May 13 near Seattle by special agents of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.<\/p>\n

According to the criminal complaint, Lytvynchuk was \u201cobserved and filmed on May 5, 2026 walking along the shoreline in the Lahaina area of Maui tracking the movements of a Hawaiian monk seal, known as \u2018Lani,\u2019 as she playfully pushed a floating log close to the shoreline.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Lytvynchuk then picked up a large rock, \u201ctook aim, and threw the rock directly at Lani\u2019s head,\u201d according to the news release.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for the District of Hawaii said the rock narrowly missed Lani\u2019s nose, startling her and causing her to rear up out of the water.<\/p>\n

\u201cWitnesses immediately confronted Lytvynchuk and told him they had contacted law enforcement, to which Lytvynchuk reportedly responded that he was \u2018rich enough to pay the fines,\u2019 before walking away,\u201d the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for the District of Hawaii added.<\/p>\n

According to witnesses, Lani remained largely immobile for an extended period of time after the incident, which caused concern over her welfare.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe unique and precious wildlife of the Hawaiian Islands are renowned symbols of Hawaii\u2019s special place in the world and its incredible biodiversity. We are committed to protecting our vulnerable wild species, in particular endangered Hawaiian monk seals, like Lani,\u201d Sorenson said. \u201cWe pledge that those who harass and attempt to harm our protected wildlife will face rapid accountability in federal court.\u201d<\/p>\n

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\u2019s National Marine Fisheries Service \u2013 Office of Law Enforcement is investigating the case.<\/p>\n

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On May 6, the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) said it was investigating\u00a0social media posts<\/a>\u00a0that appeared to show Lytvynchuk throwing an object toward a monk seal.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen the officer arrived at the scene, the officer contacted a 37-year-old adult male from Seattle, Washington, who matched the description of the suspect. The male was detained, identified and advised of his legal rights. The male declined to make a statement and invoked his legal rights by requesting counsel of an attorney,\u201d the DLNR said in a news release<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hawaiian monk seals are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act, as well as Hawaiian state law. It is one of the most endangered seal species in the world, with an estimated population of around 1,600,\u00a0according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It is illegal to disturb, harass, feed or otherwise harm a monk seal. Violations may result in fines or criminal penalties.<\/p>\n

\u2014with files from Global\u2019s Sean Boynton and The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A man who had been arrested and criminally charged after federal authorities said he was caught on video…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":705152,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,18156,295,256393,66,519,2845],"class_list":["post-705151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-endangered-species","tag-environment","tag-monk-seal","tag-science","tag-trending","tag-u-s-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=705151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705151\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/705152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=705151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=705151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=705151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}