'Rich enough to pay the fines': Washington man arrested for allegedly throwing rock at seal in Maui ⁠25%

By Dyer Oxley⁠0%

5/14/2026, 1:14:20 PM

BS Summary: This article contains 22 faulty reasoning types, including Confirmation Bias, Appeal to Emotion, and Availability Heuristic, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 17.1% saturation with 99 hits. Analysis detected 569 faulty-reasoning hits from 579 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 37.1% and a BS Rank of ⁠25% (16,554 of 21,887 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 75.60% of the article peer group.

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." 
"Lani, we have your back," Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said in a May 7 statement via Instagram. 
"And we hope to see you swimming by Front Street for many years to come." 
Mayor Bissen noted that members of his team in the Lahaina area of Maui have been tracking and looking out for Lani the seal "for some time now." 
"Lani is not just a seal to us," he said. 
"She is part of our ocean 'Ohana in Lahaina. 
Many of our residents know her, watch over her, and care deeply about her well being." 
See the mayor's full statement below. 
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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. 
"Let me be clear, this is not the kind of visitor we welcome on Maui," Mayor Bissen said in his May 7 statement. 
"We welcome respectful visitors who understand that our culture, environment, and wildlife must be treated with care and aloha. 
Behavior like this will not be tolerated." 
After obtaining video of the incident, agents were able to compare images of the man with Lytvynchuk's Washington state driver's license photo. 
They then tracked him down at a nearby resort. 
He was contacted there and exercised his right to remain silent. 
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Lytvynchuk has now been charged with harassing and attempting to harass an endangered Hawaiian monk seal, which is a violation of the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. 
He made his first court appearance Thursday morning at the federal courthouse in Seattle. 
Shortly after the rock-throwing incident, witnesses confronted the man and said they had called police. 
According to charging documents, the man told witnesses that he was “rich enough to pay the fines" and walked away as Lani was immobile in the water. 
Such fines could add up to $50,000 for violating the Endangered Species Act, and up to $20,000 under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. 
He also faces a potential year in prison and supervised release, if convicted. 
“We are committed to protecting our vulnerable wild species, in particular endangered Hawaiian monk seals, like Lani,” U.S. 
Attorney Ken Sorenson said in a statement. 
“We pledge that those who harass and attempt to harm our protected wildlife will face rapid accountability in federal court." 
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Welcome to the World Series of Birding 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 10.2%Dyer Oxley: 3.3%KUOW: 2.6%Confirmation Bias10.2%This article: 4.0%Dyer Oxley: 2.2%KUOW: 1.3%Anchoring Bias4.0%This article: 6.0%Dyer Oxley: 3.8%KUOW: 3.4%Availability Heuristic6.0%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 1.6%KUOW: 1.2%Representativeness Heuristic0.0%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 1.1%KUOW: 0.7%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 2.4%KUOW: 1.4%Overconfidence Bias0.0%This article: 2.9%Dyer Oxley: 5.3%KUOW: 7.4%Framing Effect2.9%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 0.7%KUOW: 1.0%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 0.8%KUOW: 1.0%Status Quo Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 0.3%KUOW: 0.2%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 2.6%Dyer Oxley: 5.1%KUOW: 3.8%Optimism Bias2.6%This article: 3.5%Dyer Oxley: 1.3%KUOW: 1.8%Pessimism Bias3.5%This article: 17.1%Dyer Oxley: 8.8%KUOW: 8.0%Negativity Bias17.1%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 1.8%KUOW: 2.0%Self-Serving Bias0.0%This article: 1.9%Dyer Oxley: 0.6%KUOW: 0.9%Fundamental Attribution Error1.9%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 0.2%KUOW: 0.2%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 2.1%Dyer Oxley: 2.6%KUOW: 2.0%In-Group Bias2.1%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 0.3%KUOW: 0.5%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 4.8%Dyer Oxley: 3.6%KUOW: 2.7%Halo Effect4.8%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 0.2%KUOW: 0.2%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 0.0%KUOW: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 1.8%KUOW: 1.1%Recency Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 0.3%KUOW: 0.4%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 0.0%KUOW: 0.0%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 0.2%KUOW: 0.5%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 0.2%KUOW: 0.3%Straw Man0.0%This article: 3.1%Dyer Oxley: 4.3%KUOW: 4.3%Appeal to Authority3.1%This article: 1.2%Dyer Oxley: 1.2%KUOW: 1.4%False Dilemma1.2%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 0.4%KUOW: 0.9%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 0.3%KUOW: 0.1%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 4.0%Dyer Oxley: 7.5%KUOW: 4.1%Hasty Generalization4.0%This article: 4.1%Dyer Oxley: 0.4%KUOW: 0.3%Red Herring4.1%This article: 2.8%Dyer Oxley: 1.4%KUOW: 0.8%Bandwagon2.8%This article: 8.6%Dyer Oxley: 5.6%KUOW: 6.1%Appeal to Emotion8.6%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 1.0%KUOW: 0.8%Begging the Question0.0%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 2.5%KUOW: 2.2%Post Hoc (False Cause)0.0%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 0.0%KUOW: 0.1%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 0.3%KUOW: 0.3%Burden of Proof0.0%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 0.0%KUOW: 0.2%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 0.4%KUOW: 0.2%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 2.1%KUOW: 3.3%Anecdotal0.0%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 0.1%KUOW: 0.1%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 4.7%Dyer Oxley: 1.6%KUOW: 1.4%Ambiguity (Equivocation)4.7%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 0.0%KUOW: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 0.1%KUOW: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 0.3%KUOW: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 0.1%KUOW: 0.2%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 0.4%KUOW: 0.2%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 3.1%Dyer Oxley: 1.5%KUOW: 1.0%Unattributed Quote3.1%This article: 2.9%Dyer Oxley: 0.6%KUOW: 0.8%Quote-first Misdirection2.9%This article: 2.9%Dyer Oxley: 6.3%KUOW: 3.2%Biased Writer Voice2.9%This article: 3.5%Dyer Oxley: 1.5%KUOW: 1.5%Indoctrination3.5%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 0.1%KUOW: 1.1%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Dyer Oxley: 0.1%KUOW: 0.2%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 2.2%Dyer Oxley: 2.5%KUOW: 1.3%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…2.2%

579 words analyzed.

Speakers

4speakers36%attributed speech370writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 17 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 35 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 0.0% coverageRichard Bissen • 18 words • 0.0% coverageRichard Bissen • 15 words • 0.0% coverageRichard Bissen • 28 words • 0.0% coverageRichard Bissen • 10 words • 0.0% coverageRichard Bissen • 9 words • 0.0% coverageRichard Bissen • 16 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 6 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 7 words • 0.0% coverageNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration • 19 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 14 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 31 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 8 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 29 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 10 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 0.0% coverageRichard Bissen • 23 words • 0.0% coverageRichard Bissen • 19 words • 0.0% coverageRichard Bissen • 7 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 22 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 9 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 11 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 10 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 31 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 14 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 15 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 27 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 23 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 13 words • 0.0% coverageU.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson • 18 words • 0.0% coverageKen Sorenson • 7 words • 100.0% coverageKen Sorenson • 20 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 7 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 7 words • 100.0% coverage
100%flagged-word coverage
18 attributed words8.6% of attributed speech69% writer coverage
0%2.5%5.0%Quote-first Misdirection-4.6 ptsWriter: 4.6%U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson: 0.0%0.0%Biased Writer Voice-4.6 ptsWriter: 4.6%U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson: 0.0%0.0%Attempt to Sell a Product -3.5 ptsWriter: 3.5%U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson: 0.0%0.0%Unattributed Quote-3.0 ptsWriter: 3.0%U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.