(Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office)
The decapitated bodies of at least five sea lions found off the coast of Vancouver Island, Canada, in recent months hint that there may be a serial killer of marine mammals on the loose, or perhaps someone who is already cutting off the heads of lions. dead sailors, according to news sources.
It is not clear how these animals died, but after looking at photos of the dead animals, Anna Hall, a marine mammal zoologist at Sea View Marine Sciences, a company that uses acoustics to monitor the movement of marine animals, said it is Humans are likely to blame.
“To me, this seems intentional, either by a single person or by a group of people,” Hall told Canadian media CTV News. “I sincerely hope that Fisheries and Oceans Canada continues this case to determine who is doing this and bring them to justice because it is a violation of federal law.”
Related: Images: Sea Lion Cubs Make A Splash
The images also indicate that the species is a Steller’s sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus), Hall added. These animals, which live on parts of the Pacific coast of North America, Japan and Russia, are nearly threatened, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. They are the fourth largest pinniped (a group that includes seals, sea lions, and walruses), as males can reach lengths of up to 10.8 feet (3.3 meters) and weigh an average of 2,200 pounds. (1,000 kilograms), according to the 2009 Marine Mammal Encyclopedia (Second Edition).
Deborah Short, a resident of Nanaimo, a city on Vancouver Island, said she noticed a headless sea lion walking her dog along the shoreline in April, and decided to take some photos. “At first I thought it was a log, and then as I got closer I realized it was a sea lion,” Short told Vice. “I immediately walked in that direction, only to discover that her head had been severed. She was sick to her stomach.”
In June, Short encountered another headless sea that was close to the body of a fur seal, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Since then, other people who have found decapitated sea lions in the area have sent their photos to Short. In some cases, the creature’s clean skull appears to have been left next to the body. As of now, the body count is at least five, Short said.
During his online research on sea lions, Short learned that various First Nations groups were proposing that they be allowed to harvest or slaughter local sea lions, because as sea lion populations increased, the number of some salmon and other protected and endangered fish, which sea lions eat, have plummeted. However, there is no indication that the decapitated sea lions are related to the First Nations proposal, according to CTV News.
Meanwhile, Canadian Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) said it was investigating the pinniped issue.
“Occasionally, individuals can manipulate animals once they have been stranded,” a DFO spokesperson told CTV News. “If it is determined that this was done in an effort to knowingly alter the evidence, this would be an offense under the Canadian Penal Code.”
More than 70% of Steller’s sea lion births occur on the small islands in the northwest corner of Vancouver Island, Vice reported.
If a carcass of a wild animal is discovered in Canada, people should call 1-800-465-4336 to report it to the government. In Canada, sea lions are protected by the Fisheries Act and the Endangered Species Act. Sea lions are also protected in the United States under the Federal Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972.
Hall said he expects government officials to order a necropsy (an animal autopsy) to learn more about the deceased sea lions. “It is absolutely horrible and appalling that there is someone on this coast who feels that this is an appropriate course of action regarding a marine mammal or any animal,” Hall told CTV News.
This is not the first time that headless pinnipeds have landed. Four headless sea lions were found on Vancouver Island in 2013, and at least 12 carcasses of seals were found on the banks of the Saint Lawrence in Quebec in 2014, the CBC reported. It is still unclear why these animals were attacked; While sea lion skins and whiskers are sometimes used to create items like drums and masks, these activities require a permit, and each death has to be reported to DFO, the CBC reported in 2013. However, no such reports emerged or permit applications. in any of the sea lion deaths.
Headless seals, on the other hand, were possibly the target of a wild scavenger, Stéphane Lair, a professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Montreal, told CBC in 2014. “Scavengers attack a carcass quickly and look for holes.” nose, mouth, nostrils. So it’s the head that moves away from the body first, “Lair said.
Originally published in Live Science.
