Overview
- Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk, 38, of Covington, Washington, was arrested Wednesday near Seattle by NOAA agents after a May 5 video from Lahaina showed a man throwing a large rock toward the seal known as Lani.
- A federal judge in Seattle released him pending prosecution in Hawaii and ordered his return to Honolulu later this month.
- Prosecutors charged him under the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which allow up to one year in prison per count and fines that can total about $70,000.
- The complaint says the rock narrowly missed Lani’s nose and witnesses reported she stayed mostly still afterward, and they quoted the man saying he was “rich enough to pay the fines.”
- Officials say Hawaiian monk seals number about 1,600 and are protected by state and federal law, and they urged visitors to keep distance as agencies use viral video and eyewitness reports to drive investigations and charges.