Baby Seal Stabbed on Oregon Beach, Prompting Manhunt for Suspect

• A young elephant seal was stabbed multiple times on a beach in Neskowin, Oregon.
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is seeking public help to identify the suspect.
• Harming marine mammals is a federal crime under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, carrying penalties of up to $100,000 and one year in prison.

Federal authorities are looking for the person who stabbed a baby seal several times on a beach cove in Oregon.

The 300-pound elephant seal pup, which survived the attack, has mostly recovered, authorities say — and now they want help from the public to identify its attacker, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a statement. 

The stabbing occurred on March 16, between 8 and 11:30 p.m. at a beach cove near a condominium in Neskowin, Oregon, according to the NOAA announcement. The baby seal began to heal by mid-April with no signs of lasting injuries. 

“Young elephant seals like this often spend time on their own, learning to hunt and growing larger, before eventually returning to breeding areas in and around the Channel Islands off Southern California,” Michael Milstein, a public affairs officer with NOAA said to The New York Times.

On Monday, the agency released a sketch and described the suspect as a white man who’s about 5 feet 10 inches tall, with black and white hair, a groomed beard and a large gap between his front teeth, per the NOAA announcement.

He was wearing aviator glasses with thick lenses, a thin blue-and-green fleece top, and a low-profile black cap with a logo depicting an orange four-track excavator with the word “timber” on it, The New York Times reported, citing NOAA. He also wore dark pants and lightweight hiking shoes or low boots. 

Per the description, NOAA are also seeking a vehicle seen in a parking lot next to the cove behind the condos. The inside of his dark blue 1990s Dodge or Chrysler van was described as cluttered and the rear passenger window on the driver’s side was covered in plastic.

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The federal Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibits harassing, harming, killing or feeding wild elephant seals and other marine mammals. Violators can face federal criminal penalties of up to $100,000 in fines and up to 1 year in jail.