A vacation photo shoot at one of the Arabian Peninsula’s best-known turtle nesting sites has turned into a legal case. Ukrainian content creator Vadym Oleynik and his fiancée Olena Kravchenko are facing legal action in Oman after posing for pictures while sitting on a sea turtle that was laying eggs, PetaPixel reported on September 30, 2026.
The images were taken at the Ras Al Jinz Turtle Reserve, an eco-tourism site on the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Oleynik shared them on Instagram with his roughly 200,000 followers. In the photos, the couple pose separately on the back of the adult turtle, and each of them holds a hatchling while seated on its shell.
The video that went viral
The still frames were only part of it. Oleynik also posted a video from the reserve, which spread widely online. In the clip he sits on the shell of a large sea turtle as it appears to move away, falls off, then climbs back on and sits on it again. The same footage shows him holding a baby turtle up in the air while it moves its flippers.
For a photography audience, the case is a clear example of a shot that should never have been taken. Nesting beaches are some of the most sensitive places a traveling photographer can visit. A female turtle that has come ashore to lay eggs is exposed and vulnerable, and reserves like Ras Al Jinz exist to keep human contact with these animals to a minimum.
Oman’s response
Oman’s Environment Authority said it had opened an investigation and called the behaviour a violation of Omani wildlife protection laws and regulations. In its statement, the authority said it was “closely following” the circulating video, which it said showed “a tourist engaging in acts that disturb sea turtles” and amounted to a “violation of the laws and regulations governing wildlife protection in the region.” It added that it had taken the “necessary legal action against the individual concerned.” According to IBTimes UK, the authority also warned visitors not to “touch, approach or disturb sea turtles at nesting sites.”
Deleted posts and an apology
After a wave of criticism, Oleynik removed the photos and the video from Instagram and switched his account to private. In a separate video he apologized and called the episode a “mistake.”
“I would like to send, first of all, my [apologies to] the Environmental Authority Sultanate of Oman,” he said. “Also for the protection agency of the green sea turtles that I was sitting on.” IBTimes UK also quoted him as saying: “I didn’t see the rules. I made a mistake and apologise to everyone.”
The lesson for anyone shooting wildlife on vacation is simple. Follow the reserve’s rules and your guide’s instructions, keep your distance, and never make the animal a prop. A viral frame is not worth a legal case, and it is certainly not worth the stress to a nesting turtle.
