A harbor seal pup was euthanized after a bullet fragmented into its brain, highlighting tensions over a bill related to the lethal removal of seals.
DES MOINES, Wash. — A harbor seal pup that captured attention after veterinarians discovered a bullet lodged above its skull has been euthanized after a CT scan revealed the projectile fragmented into its brain.
The pup, known as Number 24, had been receiving treatment at SR3, the Pacific Northwest’s only marine animal hospital caring for orphaned and injured harbor seal pups.
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Veterinarians initially found a 7mm bullet lodged above the pup’s skull during X-rays. After a CT scan on Friday, doctors discovered fragments of the bullet had splintered into the seal’s brain tissue. Those injuries were not visible on the original X-rays.
SR3 said the extent of the damage meant the young harbor seal would never recover well enough to survive in the wild, and veterinarians made the decision to humanely euthanize the animal.
“This is not the outcome we hoped for,” SR3 said in a statement, adding that the CT scan revealed the full extent of the injuries.
The update comes one day before a congressional hearing on H.R. 9621, the Northwest Endangered Salmon Predation Prevention Act, a bipartisan bill that would expand the circumstances under which permits could be issued for the lethal removal of certain seals and sea lions to protect threatened and endangered salmon.
SR3 has opposed the legislation and is urging the public to contact members of Congress, arguing the proposal could increase violence toward marine mammals by reinforcing misconceptions about the role seals and sea lions play in salmon declines.
Congressman Michael Baumgartner, R-Wash., the bill’s sponsor, condemned the shooting but rejected any connection between the legislation and the harbor seal pup’s death.
“No one should be illegally poaching sea lions,” Baumgartner said. “I hope the perpetrator is identified and brought to justice. This does not have anything to do with my bipartisan bill to try to save and restore our endangered salmon populations.”
Federal law already prohibits the unauthorized killing or harassment of harbor seals under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
The person responsible for shooting Number 24 has not been identified.
SR3 says the pup’s death underscores the importance of reporting injured marine mammals to trained responders and allowing wildlife professionals to provide care.