Bullet Found in Head of Calif. Sea Lion

abc ^ | 2/10/04

[knak]

SAUSALITO, Calif. Feb. 10 — A bullet was found lodged in the head of a sea lion discovered flopping along a road in central California some 60 miles from the ocean.

The 300-pound male was spotted by motorists near Los Banos Monday morning and picked up by animal rescue workers later in the day. Initial speculation was that the sea lion swam up the San Joaquin River from the ocean and through a series of canals in search of food.

Animal rescue personnel now believe the sea lion may have been disoriented because of the bullet in the back of its skull.

"We don't know how recently this happened," said spokeswoman Cynthia Schramm of the Marine Mammal Center. "He looks good. He's not malnourished, so he's obviously been feeding. It hasn't incapacitated him."

Veterinarians at the center's hospital in Sausalito had not decided Tuesday whether to remove the bullet. Schramm said the sea lion would remain under observation for at least a week while officials determine whether he is healthy enough to return to the ocean.

Schramm thought it unlikely the shooter would ever be tracked down, even though federal authorities were notified of the case.

"These cases often go unsolved. It's against the law to harm or harass any marine mammal, but it's very hard to prosecute these cases because no one sees them happen," she said.

[Trueblackman]

Some people are sick.

[knak]

yes

[nevergore]

Dang...and I was aiming at his shoulder....musta gone high...

Just kiddin....

NeverGore ;^)

[Trueblackman]

I saw the story on Fox this morning and thought it was cute because the sealion crawled up on a police car and joked that they should shot him, but I did not know the poor animal had been shot for real. I hope that it will recover and be returned to the wild.

[GeronL]

Animal rescue personnel now believe the sea lion may have been disoriented because of the bullet in the back of its skull

Gee, how did they come to that genius conclusion, so out-of-the-blue.

[nevergore]

Yeah...I don't like to see animals needlessly harmed....

Hunted for food...great...but put down humanely and not left to suffer or just used as target practice....

NeverGore ;^)

[Thud]

Probably swam too near Oakland.

[blastdad51]

I always thought sea lions and seals were like really large ocean going rats...

[Trueblackman]

No doubt

[novacation]

The commercial fisherman shot them when no one is looking because they eat 'their' fish. And when they run out of beer they blame the sea lions for drinking it.

[tubebender]

Although it is illegal, commercial fishermen will shoot sea lions when they are in their nets or eating a fish on a long line. Sea Lions can raise hell with a run of salmon if they hang out in the mouth of a river. They will take one bite out of a fish and then move on to others...

[Bobby777]

A sea lion basks in the sun on the back of a California Highway Patrol car Monday on a rural road in Los Banos, California.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/02/10/valley.seal.ap/index.html

[Jeff Chandler]

They need to shoot some of the sea lions fouling the beaches in La Jolla. Once they start drawing in great whites they might not think they're so cute.

[Sam Cree]

300 pounds, man that is a big fish, wonder what caliber, or maybe the water deflected the bullet a little.

[isom35]

could it be the Vince Foster bullet?

[Wacka]

Straight line it is 60 miles inland, but that is over Mt Hamilton (~3800 ft).
The sea lion swam to the nort part of SF bay, through the delta and south down canals to Los Banos, about 130 or so miles. Some of the ditches and canals were only a foot or two deep.

[petuniasevan]

300-pound SEA LION. Mammal.

[Swordmaker]

Swordmaker's theory of the Sea Lion in the Central Valley:

A poacher shot the Sea Lion on the coast.

Said poacher, intending to stuff and mount the "dead" Sea Lion put its "carcass" in his pick-up truck. On the way home, the dead Sea Lion awakened with a very bad headache and in a foul mood (have you ever shared a truck with a 300 LB pissed off Sea Lion?) Very flustered poacher opens Pick-up tailgate and gets out of the way as pissed off, injured, and angry Sea Lion exits. Poacher, giving up his "stuffed Sea Lion" project as a bad idea, leaves the scene, abandoning the disoriented animal beside the road for a very surprised California Highway Patrolman to discover.

This theory explains the the bullet wound to the head and the Sea Lion's presence far away from his normal habitat.


Secondary theory: Weekend boater places his boat on its trailer in San Francisco Bay, unaware a sleeping Sea Lion has occupied its after deck. On the way home, the boater hears a strange honking cry come from the vicinity of his boat trailer. Panicking after finding a 300Lb Sea Lion on his boat, he gets his small caliber rifle out and shoots the Sea Lion, knocking it out. The Sea Lion, falls off the boat (with or without help) to the pavement and hapless boater flees the scene, abandoning the unconsious animal beside the road for a very surprised California Highway Patrolman to discover after it awakens with a headache.

Both of these theories are much more plausible than one that has a Sea Lion travel 60 miles on his flippers or swimming in fresh water rivers and then climbing onto a road.

[EGPWS]

It's against the law to harm or harass any marine mammal...

Give us a couple of decades and it will be against the law to be, in human form.