An elephant seal pup suffered “multiple stab wounds” in an attack at an Oregon beach, prompting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to launch a search for a person of interest.
The NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement said this week that the incident happened on March 16 in Neskowin, Oregon, along a stretch of shoreline in front of the Proposal Rock Condominiums.
“While the young elephant seal survived, it sustained multiple stab wounds. The Marine Stranding Team monitored and evaluated the animal before relocating it,” the NOAA said in a statement.
The agency released a sketch of a person of interest, described as a White male “Approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall, with a standard build, black and white hair, a groomed beard, and a large gap between his front teeth.”
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The NOAA, citing a witness, added that the individual was wearing a “black cap with a flat front and a logo depicting an orange four-track excavator with the word ‘Timber’.”
“We are also seeking information about the owner of a vehicle that may be associated with the person of interest,” the NOAA also said, describing it as a cluttered-looking dark blue 1990s Dodge or Chrysler van that had the rear passenger window on the driver’s side covered in plastic.
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Following the attack, the seal’s wounds were healing, it had grown to about 300 pounds and there were no signs that the stabbing was going to have “lasting effects,” Michael Milstein, a spokesperson for NOAA Fisheries West Coast region, told The Associated Press.
The seal that was stabbed likely left its mother very recently and was on its own to learn to hunt, Milstein said. Once it had grown a bit more, it would have likely made its way back to breeding areas around the Channel Islands off Southern California.
The NOAA said “Harassing, harming, killing or feeding wild elephant seals is prohibited under the Marine Mammal Protection Act” and “Violations can be prosecuted civilly or criminally and are punishable by up to $100,000 in fines and up to 1 year in jail per violation.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
