Reports increase of sea-lion shootings

Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO

The weak and woozy California sea lion found on a San Francisco Bay-area beach in December with buckshot embedded in its skull has become an all-too-common sight for wildlife officials.

Wildlife officials have seen a slight rise in the shooting of ocean mammals in recent years, and investigators often struggle to find a culprit. There are few witnesses to such shootings, making it nearly impossible to bring a case.

“We always try to do an investigation, but unless there’s an eyewitness to the shooting it’s hard to make a case for our enforcement folks,” said Joe Cordaro, a wildlife biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who tracks reports of the shootings.

The NOAA said there were 43 reported marine mammal shootings in 2009 in the waters off the California coast — nine more than in 2008 and 14 more than five years earlier. Of the reported shootings in 2009, all were sea lions. And officials say many more cases likely go unreported.

Wildlife officials say sea-lion and human populations increase, making interaction more common, especially among fishermen who compete for the same food and view the creatures as a nuisance.

Though NOAA and the California Department of Fish and Game are responsible for investigating these cases, few cases result in prosecution. Recent public outcry over highly publicized cases such as that of the wounded sea lion near San Francisco have brought more attention.