A witness recorded a Covington tourist throwing a large rock that narrowly missed a Hawaiian monk seal in the head, prosecutors said.
MAUI COUNTY, Hawaii — A tourist from Covington accused of throwing a coconut-sized rock at endangered Hawaiian monk seals near Maui pleaded not guilty to federal charges in a Hawaii court on Wednesday, according to court records.
Prosecutors say Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk, 38, harassed, injured, pursued, hunted and injured a Hawaiian monk seal on or about May 5 and attempted to harass, injure, hunt, hunt, injure and kill it.
Litvinchuk was released on $25,000 bail. While in Hawaii, he was prohibited from entering any beaches or approaching any marine wildlife.
Prosecutors charged him with harassing and hunting the seal and attempting to harass, hunt and kill it under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
The case began after a witness reported seeing a man throwing a large rock at a seal swimming in shallow water near Lahaina, according to a criminal complaint.
“In the cell phone video, the man can be seen holding a large rock in one hand, aiming and throwing it directly at the monk seal,” prosecutors said in the indictment.
Witnesses said the rock was about the size of a coconut. It narrowly missed hitting the seal in the head, but caused the seal to “suddenly change its behavior,” prosecutors said.
When a witness confronted the man, he said he didn’t care and was “rich enough” to pay any fine, the lawsuit states.
The video prompted calls for prosecution in Hawaii, including from Maui Mayor Richard Bissen. The mayor dubbed the seal “Lani,” a species of seal that lives on the Lahaina waterfront whose return after the 2023 wildfires brought healing and hope to the community.
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources later said the seal was most likely not Rani because it lacked certain markings.
Litvinchuk arranged to surrender in the Seattle area earlier this month.
On May 14, he appeared in Seattle federal court. Released pending court appearance in Honolulu. The judge ordered him to surrender his passport but allowed him to use his enhanced driver’s license to appear in court.
Hawaiian monk seals are critically endangered, with only about 1,600 monk seals left in the wild.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s OfficeIf convicted, Litvinchuk faces up to a year in prison on each charge. He also faces fines of up to $50,000 under the Endangered Species Act and up to $20,000 under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
