by The Whale Museum
A harbor seal was shot during a sport fishing derby in San Juan County on Jan. 26. The adult female seal survived a single gunshot wound to the head. Initially reported to the San Juan County Sheriff’s department, the seal was transferred to the San Juan County Marine Mammal Stranding Network and Wolf Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation Center for transport and stabilization. Though medical care is still required, the seal has shown significant improvement since the day of the shooting and is currently being treated at PAWS Wildlife Center in Lynnwood with the eventual goal of release back to the wild.
The Whale Museum would like to extend a huge thank you to the many partner organizations and individuals who have worked to give this harbor seal a second chance, including: the sheriff’s department, Wolf Hollow, PAWS, SeaLife Response, Rehabilitation, and Research, NOAA, SeaDoc Society, Vancouver Aquarium and Whale Museum/SJCMMSN volunteers.
This local incident follows a sharp increase in sea lion gunshot incidents in Puget Sound proper over the winter. While humans shooting seals is not a novel occurrence – humans decimated local pinniped (seal and sea lion) populations in the early 1990s – the recent increase in gunshot cases is a growing concern for the region.
Why now? It is likely that the recent shooting spree has been influenced by a rise of negative public sentiment towards these animals and an increased tendency to blame healthy pinniped populations for declines in salmon abundance. The shootings also follow discussions at the government level to consider more invasive population management techniques.
While it is no doubt easier on the conscience to blame something other than humans for resource declines, it is important to note that food web dynamics are extremely complicated and declines in fish stocks are unlikely to be explained by a single contributing factor. Furthermore, significant knowledge gaps and research priorities have been identified in order to inform pinniped population management at the legislative level. For example, stock assessment reports for harbor seals are severely outdated and there is insufficient data available to assess the current size of populations in Washington. Harbor seals are opportunistic predators that feed on over 60 different species of fish, some of which are predators of salmonids such as hake. It is unclear how harbor seal removal would affect salmon abundance. It is possible that fewer seals available to remove hake or predators of salmon smolts and fingerlings could actually have a negative effect on salmon abundance. It is critical to answer these types of questions before any action – even if legalized – could be considered responsible.
It is essential that members of the public refrain from taking action into their own hands. The fact remains that marine mammals are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, and harassing, touching, moving, feeding or killing marine mammals is a federal crime. Violations can result in fines of up to $11,000 per incident. Thanks to quick eye-witness reporting and thorough documentation, evidence has been collected to further the investigation of this particular incident.
If you witness a marine mammal shooting, call NOAA at 1-800-853-1964. Report all marine mammal strandings (dead or alive) to 1-800-562-8832 (SJC) or 1-866-767-6114 (West Coast Region).
