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Sea Lion and pup found dead

Vallejo, CA

July 29, 2006

   (Photo courtesy of Mike Jory/Times-Herald)  An adult sea lion was mysteriously shot to death and its pup was struck by a car and killed Thursday evening, July 27^th, along a Vallejo-area highway.  David Sidie, Director of the Benicia-Vallejo Humane Society’s Animal Services received a call from a woman who stated she hit a sea lion with her car.  The baby sea lion was dead when Sidie arrived at the scene on eastbound Highway 37.  The woman did not see it and ended up striking it. The pup was the size of a medium-sized dog of about 100 pounds.

On Friday, July 28^th, at approximately 2:30 a.m., a CHP Officer was driving on the opposite side of the highway in the same are when he spotted a dead sea lion in the middle of the road.  The adult sea lion had been shot twice in the head and did not appear to have been hit by a car.  It was unclear what type of gun was used and if the animal had been shot there or elsewhere.  Officials speculate that the two sea lions could have been a mother and her pup.  The adult sea lion, about 6-8 feet long, weighed between 350-400 pounds.

National Marine Fisheries Service has jurisdiction over a shot sea lion and spokesman Jim Milbury stated the agency plans to investigate.  Shooting a sea lion violates the Federal Marine Mammal Protection Act, which comes with a criminal penalty of up to $20,000 and a year in jail.  California sea lions are not listed as an endangered species.

Sidie stated that stretches of wetlands surrounding Highway 37 are active hunting areas and that it is not unusual to have that type of wildlife in the marsh.

Reference:

Vallejo Times Herald