Tourist Charged After Throwing Coconut-Sized Rock at Endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal

A Washington man, Igor Lytvynchuk, 38, was arrested by NOAA agents near Seattle on charges of harassing an endangered Hawaiian monk seal after a witness filmed him throwing a rock the size of a coconut at Maui’s monk seal named Lani. Hawaiian monk seals are critically endangered with about 1,600 remaining in the wild. If convicted, he faces up to one year in prison and fines up to $50,000 under the Endangered Species Act and $20,000 under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.