He makes another splash.
A tourist accused of throwing a huge rock at an endangered Hawaiian monk seal claims he was actually doing something good – by trying to save a pair of helpless turtles.
Igor Litvinchuk, 38, was slapped with federal charges and beaten by locals after the incident caught on video at Lahaina Beach on May 5, but he was just trying to protect the turtles — known locally as honu — by scaring away the beloved seal, his lawyer told reporters.
“I want to be incredibly clear to the public — he never intended to harm the monk seal,” attorney Miles Brenner told KHON-TV News. “He wanted to scare the seal away from the honu he saw there.
“Apparently, there were two large turtles, and one of them had actually been dropped from the rock by the seal,” Brenner told the outlet. “Sea lions are very aggressive.”
The knucklehead from Seattle went viral after a passerby filmed him throwing a coconut-sized rock at the seal that Hawaiians lovingly call Lani, and he made it worse when he was asked why.
He told the woman who filmed the alleged attack: “I don’t care.” “I’m fine. I’m rich.”
Angry locals tracked him down and at least one man beat him over the incident.
Litvinchuk now faces a federal charge of disturbing or harassing an endangered animal, and could face up to a year in prison and a $50,000 fine.
“He realizes he made a bad decision,” Brenner said.
However, the lawyer said the rude remarks attributed to his client were untrue.
“The statement was: ‘I can handle it,'” he said.