Tell NOAA to Investigate Harbor Seal Shootings

A three-week-old harbor seal pup should have been swimming beside his mother—not fighting for his life after being shot in the head.

The young seal was found wounded near Bellingham, in Washington state’s Puget Sound region, over the Fourth of July weekend. X-rays revealed that he had been shot in the head. He is now in critical but stable condition at a marine wildlife hospital, where he is showing signs of improvement and spending time outside with other seal pups as caregivers continue evaluating his chances of survival.

Even more disturbing, this was not an isolated attack.

He was the third harbor seal brought to the same marine wildlife hospital with a gunshot wound to the head in just nine months. Two adult seals previously found elsewhere in Washington state’s Puget Sound region—near Hood Canal and Quilcene—later died from their injuries. All three cases were referred to federal wildlife law-enforcement officials.

Someone—or possibly more than one person—is deliberately inflicting prolonged suffering on protected marine animals and may still be armed and targeting wildlife.

Harbor seals are protected by the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act. Shooting them is illegal—and can bring major civil penalties, criminal fines, vessel forfeiture, and up to a year in jail.

These attacks demand a coordinated response. NOAA Fisheries and its law-enforcement partners should share evidence, seek witnesses, and determine whether the shootings are connected.

They should also launch a visible public-tip campaign in the communities where the seals were found, tell witnesses what information to document, and make clear to boaters and anglers that shooting seals is both cruel and against the law.

Whatever debates exist over fisheries management, private citizens do not get to wound or kill protected wildlife. Wildlife-management decisions must be guided by science and made by accountable public agencies—not by someone with a gun.

Please sign the petition urging NOAA Fisheries and its law-enforcement partners to fully investigate these shootings, devote the resources needed to identify the person or people responsible, and act now to prevent another seal from being attacked.

The petition to NOAA Fisheries and its law-enforcement partners reads: Fully investigate the three recent harbor seal shootings, coordinate evidence and public tips across the cases, and hold anyone responsible accountable under the law. Launch targeted outreach in affected waterfront communities so witnesses know how to report wildlife crimes and no more seals are left to suffer from deliberate gunfire.
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Source: 

https://mynorthwest.com/local/harbor-seal-shot/4257202