A 38-year-old Washington man has been arrested for allegedly throwing a rock at a monk seal on the shores of Maui in early May, an incident that was caught on video and quickly went viral.
The monk seal is well-known to locals who have named her “Lani.”
Special agents with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration arrested Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk near Seattle on Wednesday, May 13. Lytvynchuk, 38, is a resident of Covington, Wash., roughly 30 miles southeast from Seattle.
On May 5, bystanders took video of a man walking along the beach in the Lahaina area of Maui as he followed a monk seal, Lani, in the nearby shallow water. The seal was swimming and pushing a log. The man then took a large rock — one witness described it as the size of a coconut — and threw it at the seal, nearly hitting its head. The seal was startled and reared out of the water. Lani was motionless for a time, avoiding the shore, after the scare.
Thank you!
His defense attorney is saying that the dude was trying to scare away the seal because he thought it was hurting some sea turtles. Story is here. Found this when I was looking for yesterday’s story quoting the dude as saying “I can afford the fines” when he was confronted by some local people.
Not sure I buy this. But, we’ll see.
Even if that was true, isn’t that still illegal?
Totally. Not trying to defend the guy, just sharing the story. Just seems super convenient. Why not tell the people yelling at you that you’re trying to protect the turtles? Why are we only now hearing about this? Seems like the sort of story one of my kids would come up with to try and get themselves off the hook.
Most likely, yes. But might help to reduce the penalty
Hope not, should actually get punished just as much as anyone else would
is a resident of Covington, Wash.
That tracks.
Does it? I just looked it up and it’s by Kent, yeah? I’ve never heard of it.
washington man sounds like florida man to me, and that guy better have a joint and a Rainier while wearing a hoodie, not this nutsack - he’s some russian shitbag who’s living in washington state. he’s not… washington man…
Washington man might throw rock at seal if drunk enough, sadly too poor to realize dream
Ukrainian. But hey, don’t let facts get in the way, they’re our greatest allies.
well slava ukraine but fuck this guy.
Uh huh.
Apparently after this he also hit some locals on their fists with his face. I hope the seal and their fists are okay.
He’s the one who got the beating after the locals found out about it and he told them that he doesn’t care about getting fined because he’s rich.
You may need to take a second read of the comment you’re replying to.
damn
When animals attack, that shit is funny. Love watching people getting fuckin owned by animals. I wonder why?
I live on O’ahu and I’ll never forget the first time I encountered a monk seal while surfing. It was near sunset and I was kind of off by myself, away from the rest of the crowd. I heard a sound of heavy breathing from behind me and I thought that maybe someone was paddling up. Nope, it was a seal.
At first my brain couldn’t make sense of it. I grew up in Florida and so immediately thought it was a manatee (for some reason I thought monk seals were like sea lion size or something smaller and leaner), but I knew this was impossible. Then it yawned and I saw its sizable teeth and realized what it was. It was funny because it was about that time that it realized I was looking at it and it had this “oh shit!” look in its eyes. We gave each other a cautious side-eye just before it went back underwater and swam away.
These things are big. What would possess someone to think they can approach one is beyond me. A couple years ago there was a story of a lady out swimming in Waikiki and she apparently wandered into an area where a recently born seal was on the beach. The mother messed her up, iirc.
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I read somewhere a random local gave him a couple of punches after the news went viral.
“Eh, get cracks!”
Saw that the local guy is also not having any charges pressed against him for this. Love to see it.
That local should be eligible for sainthood, or at least a key to the city
You’ll be glad to hear that the anonymous local was awarded the highest honor the city could bestow: the Ambassador of Aloha.
“Don’t worry guys. Alohandle this cunt.” — some local
Time to tie the fine to a fraction of percent worth, like how the Europeans do it.
Only the finns.
i think the swiss too, at least when it comes to driving fines? not sure…
It just makes since. A fine is just a price, a percentage makes sure people feel it as much as a given law wants them to.
A very lucky subset of Europeans, mind
Someone needs to fish the rock out, hand it back to him and drop him in the arctic. Let him argue with a polar bear on how is wealth protects him.
Alternatively, mob justice.
Alternatively, mob justice.
Ah, South American style.
Bless you.
NOAA has cops?
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he’s already been doxxed, iirc he owns his own business.
Let’s not dox people
I’m sure prosecutors will have a field day
That’ll get you killed on my beach.
Biggest issue is keiki and tourists crowding the seals when they come on shore to take pictures, and the seals get nervous and head back into the water. But sometimes you get local kine just as disrespectful.
But also…
Special agents with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration arrested Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk near Seattle
wut…
There was that story of da guy who killed one on Moloka’i. Was like last year, two years, yeah? Never found em. Local guy I think.
As it so happens, it did nearly kill him. Some locals beat the shit out of him afterwards.
But hey, he said he could afford the fine, so I’m sure he could afford the medical bills too.
Fun fact: NOAA, although not a military service, is considered one of the 8 “uniformed services” of the US, which includes the 5 military services, the Coast Guard, NOAA, and the US Public Health Service.
An actual Seal team
Wait so they actually have official uniforms? I know the Surgeon General has a very cool military looking one
They do. Here’s the official photo of the current Director of the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps, Rear Admiral Chad M Cary.
yeah, I’ll take them (whatever the hell they are) over ice/cbp any fucking day.
“now go forth and make the world a better place!”
I just imagine them handing out some Beretta 9mm’s to some lab technicians who typically work with ice cores or something and them being told “You’re getting sent to Seattle. Find this guy”
“Ice him”
“Decrease his carbon footprint to zero”
I would watch this show.
“NOAA, huh? You guys give the weather report. You can’t do nothing to me!” spits
“You know what NOAA stands for? No Assholes Abided!” firefight ensues
“Your climate is about to get changed”
That second line sounds like a comedic Bond villain line.
And it’s awesome.
Seriously infuriating.
Wrong sub then.
allegedly throwing rock
Isnt there a video, what do they mean allegedly?
It’s the dumb thing where they have to cover their ass legally. If the guy goes to court and somehow wins by convincing them it “slipped” from his hand then he could turn around and sue all the outlets who said he threw it
That’s not it at all
As of right now he is totally innocent. It is on the prosecution to prove that he commited a crime.
By that logic, OJ totally didn’t kill anyone.
What? No. He’s presumed innocent in the court of law. Whether they find him innocent or guilty doesn’t change him being innocent or guilty. You can be guilty and found innocent or innocent and found guilty. The opinion of the court only matters in the justice system, not in public opinion or reality.
I imagine the more logical argument would be “I threw the rock, but it wasn’t at the seal” rather than “it slipped out of my hand at a high velocity”
You are innocent until proven guilty
Only applies to government. Not public opinion.
Public option unreliable is should be taken with a grain of salt. Everyone deserves a fair trial even when there is strong evidence to suggest that someone committed a crime.
He will be appointed the new head of US Fish & Wildlife
Let’s throw the book at this guy like he threw rocks at that seal. Fucking piece of shit.
This is actually infuriating! 🤬
