A tourist visiting Hawaii was caught on film throwing a rock at an endangered monk seal, claiming that he did so to protect two nearby turtles.
The incident occurred on May 5 when 38-year-old Igor Lytvynchuk hurled the rock at the defenseless seal in Lahaina.
After being confronted about his actions, Lytvynchuk reportedly told bystanders that he was willing to pay any fines that might be imposed on him.
The situation escalated when footage of the act went viral, resulting in some angry locals physically confronting Lytvynchuk, leaving him “pretty badly” beaten.
His defense attorney has since stated that Lytvynchuk’s actions were intended to protect other marine animals in the vicinity.
“There were two large turtles in the water. When he threw the rock, the intention was to scare the seal away. He had no idea, again, the significance of monk seals. He frankly didn’t know we had seals in Hawaii,” said his lawyer, Myles Breiner, in an interview with Hawaii News Now.
According to Breiner, Lytvynchuk had previous experience with sea lions while he worked as a fisherman in Washington and knows how aggressive they can be.
So when Lytvynchuk and his wife were turtle watching, he believed he was performing a heroic act, Breiner told the outlet.
Igor Lytvynchuk, 38, was seen on camera throwing a rock at a Hawaiian monk seal on May 5 in Lahaina
Video footage from bystanders saw Lytvynchuk throwing a large rock toward the seal, which was seen recoiling from the impact and swam away
Lytvynchuk has since claimed he was trying to protect two turtles that he said were near the seal
‘He assumed that when he saw the seal, the monk seal, pushing the turtles off of the rocks, that he was doing something good by scaring it away,’ the attorney said.
‘He’s devastated at the notion that people thought he wanted to injure the seal.’
Lytvynchuk faced further backlash after he bragged that he was ‘rich enough to pay the fines’ associated with the incident, which Breiner said was just a response to the pressure of the moment.
‘It comes off sounding like he’s bragging or being arrogant. OK, and that was possibly in response to people yelling at him and he was embarrassed, so he doubled down,’ Breiner added.
After the incident went viral, the Ukrainian naturalized US citizen was also assaulted by another man.
‘He was beaten pretty badly. There were no broken bones, but yeah, he had welts all over his back, his head, shoulders,’ the attorney said.
Breiner added that they would not be pressing charges.
Lytvynchuk appeared in court in Seattle on Thursday after he was charged with violating the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
According to his attorney Myles Breiner, Lytvynchuk had previous experience with sea lions and knows how aggressive they can be
Lytvynchuk appeared in court in Seattle on Thursday after he was charged with violating the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. He is set to appear before in federal court again in Honolulu on May 27
A judge ordered his release on a personal recognizance bond pending another court appearance in Honolulu on May 27, Hawaii News Now reported. He was also ordered to surrender his passport.
‘He’s going to pay the price. We’re not going into court and saying no, he didn’t do this, but there’s always an explanation,’ Breiner said.
Lytvynchuk is also looking into giving back by donating to wildlife protection efforts.
If convicted, he faces up to one year in prison for each charge along with possible fines of up to $70,000.
