DOCARE investigating alleged rock-throwing incident at monk seal on Oahu

State officials are investigating a tip that came in last weekend of a man allegedly throwing a rock at an endangered Hawaiian monk seal on Oahu.

The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources confirmed that its Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement initiated an investigation after receiving a complaint via its tip line.

“As this is the very early stages of the investigation, there is no further information we are able to provide at this time,” said DLNR in an emailed statement.

Social media posts describe an incident in which a witness saw a man, believed to be a visitor, allegedly throw a rock at a Hawaiian monk seal pup at the beach below Diamond Head lookout.

According to the witness, the post said the man walked to within about a foot of the sleeping seal and then allegedly threw a rock at it to wake it or get its attention.

There is footage of the seal on the shoreline, as well as of a man walking away from it, but not of the actual rock-throwing incident.

Hawaiian monk seals are the most endangered seal species in the world, with only an estimated 1,400 left in the wild.

The investigation comes three months after a viral video of a Washington man allegedly throwing a large rock at a monk seal’s head as it was swimming off Lahaina, Maui, sparked outrage.

Federal prosecutors charged Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk, 38, of Covington, Wash., with violating the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act. Special agents of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration arrested Lytvynchuk in Washington state.

Lytvunchuk’s attorney said he had no intention of harming the monk seal. Lytvynchuk entered a “not guilty” plea in U.S. District Court in Honolulu.

DLNR said under the provisions of the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act, the state is prohibited from enforcing state laws relating to the “take” of marine mammals. In these cases, DOCARE cannot issue citations nor prosecute cases through the Hawaii court system.

The federal statute’s definition of “take” includes harassing, harming, pursuing, hunting, shooting, wounding, killing, and capturing a protected species, or attempting to do so.

DLNR said that, as in Lytvynchuk’s case, if DOCARE finds evidence of any violation of the law, it will transfer those findings to the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement for review. NOAA would then determine whether to take any federal enforcement action.