Tag Archives: Ocean

Police hunt suspect who shot and killed 2-year-old sea lion lying on California beach

Posted on by
Reply

Police are offering a reward of up to $20,000 for information about the suspect.

ByJon Haworth ABCNews logo

Thursday, October 10, 2024 10:01AM

Sea lion fatally shot on Orange County beach

about:blank

A California sea lion was fatally shot on Bolsa Chica State Beach in Orange County, and a reward is now being offered to find the person responsible.

Federal officials are hunting for a suspect who they say shot and killed a 2-year-old sea lion while it was lying on a California beach, authorities said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Law Enforcement is now offering a reward of up to $20,000 after the incident — which took place at Bolsa Chica State Beach in Orange County, California, on Aug. 7 — when the male California sea lion was found injured but alive between lifeguard stations 22 and 23 with a “fresh gunshot wound in its back,” according to a statement from the NOAA released on Wednesday.

“The Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Orange County rescued the male sea lion, but it died from its injuries the following day,” NOAA officials said.

Law enforcement is now actively seeking information on the person who shot the animal and any other details surrounding its shooting.

“The Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibits the harassment, hunting, capturing, or killing of sea lions and other marine mammals,” officials said. “However, the law allows for non-lethal methods to deter marine mammals from damaging private property, including fishing gear and catch, if it does not injure or kill an animal.”

Like all marine mammals, the California sea lion is protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act which has helped their population to continue increasing since at least 1975, after protections were put in place under the MMPA.

“California sea lions are easy to view in the wild, but this puts them at higher risk of human-related injuries and death. Feeding or trying to feed them is harmful and illegal, because it changes their natural behaviors and makes them less wary of people and vessels,” the NOAA said. “They learn to associate humans with an easy meal and change their natural hunting practices-for example, they take bait catch directly off fishing gear. Sometimes they fall victim to retaliation (such as shooting) by frustrated boaters and fishermen.”

Anyone with information about the sea lion shooting should call NOAA’s 24/7 enforcement hotline at (800) 853-1964.

https://abc11.com/pets-animals/police-hunt-suspect-who-shot-and-killed-sea-lion-on-california-beach/15412350/

Newsom signs bill to ban octopus farming in California

Posted on by
Reply

https://www.aol.com/news/newsom-signs-bill-ban-octopus-140959108.html

Susanne Rust

September 29, 2024 at 7:09 AM

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bipartisan bill Friday making it a crime to farm octopuses for human consumption in California.

The new law makes it illegal to raise and breed octopuses in state waters or in aquaculture tanks based on land within the state. It also prevents business owners and operators from knowingly participating in the sale of an octopus — regardless of its provenance — that has been raised to be eaten by people.

The text of the law recognizes that octopuses are “highly intelligent, curious, problem-solving animals” that are conscious, sentient and experience “pain, stress, and fear, as well as pleasure, equanimity, and social bonds.” It goes on to note that in research studies, these eight-legged marine invertebrates have demonstrated long-term memory as well as the ability to recognize individual people.

In one experiment, eight giant Pacific octopuses were introduced to two people over a two-week period at the Seattle Aquarium. One of them always approached with food in hand, which they gave to the octopuses. The other carried a bristly stick, with which they used to scratch the cephalopods’ sensitive skin.

At the end of two weeks, the octopuses’ responses to the two people were significantly different. When the stick-carrier approached, the animals would move away and line up their water jets toward the offender so they could make a quick get-away if necessary. But when feeder came calling, they ambled up to the side of the tank and turned their jets away.

https://32fac92b7cc74c303473572ecdbe16f0.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html

Proponents of the new law said it positions California as a leader in humane aquaculture. They point to a growing body of research that shows raising octopuses for food is cruel, inefficient and detrimental to the environment.

Read more:Farm-bred octopus: A benefit to the species or an act of cruelty?

California is now the second state — after Washington — to prohibit octopus farming. Similar legislation has also been introduced in the U.S. Senate and in Hawaii.

“We know that what happens in California has an impact on what happens federally,” Jennifer Jacquet, a professor of environmental science and policy at the University of Miami, said when the bill cleared the legislature. “Americans want to keep octopuses wild.”

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.