A male California sea lion weighing about 700 pounds was found dead this month in West Seattle, Wash., after being shot at least a dozen times, officials said.
The discovery, on a beach off the Duwamish River, came on Sept. 18 after a report to Seal Sitters, a group of trained professionals and volunteers who respond to sick, injured, entangled or dead marine mammals.
Researchers from SR3, a group that rescues, rehabilitates and researches marine animals like seals and sea lions, took X-rays on the beach to determine its cause of death.
“He was so large that we couldn’t fit even parts of his body on our radiograph plate,” said Casey Mclean, executive director of SR3 and a licensed veterinary technician.
Researchers could “immediately tell” from the X-rays that the animal had been shot at “pretty close range,” Ms. Mclean said. “It’s frustrating, it’s sad, it is not uncommon.”
She said there have been multiple such shootings of sea lions this year.
The gunfire in the most recent case, she said, was not what shocked her the most. She said she was “quite surprised” that the sea lion had been shot seven times in the head.
A motive for the shooting was unclear.
The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, which is responsible for enforcing the Marine Mammal Protection Act, could not be reached for comment.
SR3 was unable to conduct a necropsy on the sea lion because it was too big to move. It was left where it was found on the beach to decompose naturally.
California sea lions, like the one that was killed, are native to the entire West Coast, Ms. Mclean said. They feed on salmon, as well as squid, anchovies, mackerel, rockfish and sardines, according to NOAA.
Salmon support nearly 23,000 commercial fishing jobs and salmon fisheries generate an estimated $1.5 billion in economic activity a year, according to Washington State University.
In July, Representative Michael Baumgartner of Washington introduced the Northwest Endangered Salmon Predation Prevention Act of 2026, or Bill 9621.
The legislation seeks to protect endangered or threatened salmon and other fish species in Washington State through the “lethal takings,” by unspecified “humane methods,” of sea lions and seals.
Ms. Mclean said that the removal of sea lions is “not going to recover salmon populations.”
“I think the fact that this is out there and being talked about and they are being scapegoated as the reason for the salmon issues, that is what is leading to this increased violence that we’re seeing,” she said.
Other episodes of violence against sea lions elsewhere have also been reported recently.
A San Diego man last month pleaded guilty to a federal charge after he was caught on video kicking and chasing a sea lion in violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which prohibits harassing or hunting oceanic animals.
ABC News reported this month that two beheaded sea lions were found on San Francisco’s beaches, prompting an investigation.
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