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A tourist who was filmed hurling a rock at a beloved seal at a Hawaiian beach has offered an astonishing excuse for his behaviour.
Igor Lytvynchuk, 38, was captured on video at Lahaina beach on May 5 pelting the endangered monk seal — affectionately known to locals as Lani — with a coconut-sized rock.
The incident so enraged locals they tracked him down and beat him “pretty badly”, his lawyer told local media.
Mr Lytvynchuk was charged with disturbing or harassing an endangered animal under US federal laws and could face up to one year in jail and a $US50,000 ($70,000) fine.
But the tourist from Seattle claims his actions were actually well-intentioned, as he was trying scare the seal away to protect two turtles nearby.
“There were two large turtles in the water. When he threw the rock, the intention was to scare the seal away,” his lawyer Myles Breiner told Hawaii News Now.
Mr Breiner said Mr Lytvynchuk, a Ukraine-born naturalised US citizen, had experience dealing with sea lions as a fisherman and knew they could be aggressive.
But he had “no idea” of the significance of monk seals.
“He frankly didn’t know we had seals in Hawaii,” the lawyer said.
“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.
“He’s devastated at the notion that people thought he wanted to injure the seal.”
Mr Breiner also addressed flippant comments Mr Lytvynchuk made when he was confronted by passers-by immediately after the incident, including telling the woman who filmed the video: “Fine me, I’m rich”.
“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,” Mr Breiner said.
The lawyer confirmed Mr Lytvynchuk had been tracked down and assaulted by another man, but would not be pressing charges.
“He was beaten pretty badly,” Mr Breiner said.
“There were no broken bones, but yeah, he had welts all over his back, his head, shoulders.”
Mr Lytvynchuk appeared in court in Seattle on Thursday and is due to face a federal judge in Honolulu on May 27.
“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,” Mr Breiner said, adding his client would also look to making a charitable donation to wildlife preservation efforts.
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