The National Marine Fisheries Service is offering a whopping $20,000 for information on a burly man spotted sawing the head off a dead sea lion in California in late July — the second instance of someone seen desecrating the beloved marine animals that thrive in the West Coast waters.
The man was seen hacking off the head of a sea lion with a jagged hunting knife at a Monterey Beach on July 27 at around 8:40 p.m., according to the NOAA Fisheries.
It’s unclear why the agency decided to offer the reward now after months of relative silence.
NOAA released a picture of the suspect, who appears to be a middle-aged white man, last seen sporting a graying beard and camo cargo shorts, clocking in at around 5 feet 9 inches tall.
He was spotted placing the harvested head in a plastic bag and leaving the scene in a late-model white Cadillac Escalade, according to the NOAA.
The agency assured that the sea lion was already dead when the man chopped its head off, but the cause of death hadn’t been determined.
The renewed search is the second time NOAA has offered a reward for tips on a sea lion mutilator.
In March, a witness reported seeing a man in his 30s remove a dead sea lion’s head at a park in the quaint Bodega Bay village. He reportedly placed the head in a clear plastic bag before fleeing the scene on an e-bike.
In that case, the agency also offered a $20,000 reward, but it’s unclear if the suspect was ever caught.
The latest hefty reward will only be given out if the tipster provides pertinent information that leads to a successful conviction or issuance of a civil penalty, according to NOAA.
The Marine Mammal Protection Act enforces stringent rules on human interaction with California’s sea lions and seals. Under the act, anything from killing to feeding the animals is strictly prohibited.
While some breeds of sea lions are endangered, the California Sea Lion is not. Still, the species was historically hunted for practically every part of their body, down to their whiskers that were used to build tools, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
As cute as pinnipeds appear, they’ve grown more aggressive over the years as tourists encroach on their habitats.
In August, a 9-year-old girl was bitten by a sea lion at a surf camp after her class wandered a little too far into its territory. The sea lion punctured her leg and dragged her underwater before her surf instructor corralled all of the kids back to shore.
And in April, a colony of typically docile sea lions off the California coast suddenly turned “demonic” after being infected by mind-warping toxic algae. The raft attacked multiple surfers, even charging at veteran surfers who had frequented the waters for decades.
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