A tiny harbor seal pup, just three weeks old, is fighting for its life at a marine mammal hospital in Des Moines after rescuers made a disturbing discovery: it had been shot. The animal was found in the tide flats of Bellingham, roughly a hundred miles north, and its case has drawn attention because whoever pulled the trigger has not been caught.
The pup is now being cared for at SR3, the sea life response, rehabilitation and research center in Des Moines, where staff already have their hands full. At the height of pupping season, there are around twenty animals on site, some discovered stranded and malnourished, others recovering from pneumonia. But only one of them is there because someone opened fire.
Known to caretakers as Number 24, the pup arrived about a week ago after being separated from its mother. Staff picked the animal up and brought it in for treatment, expecting a typical case of a young seal in distress. It was only during a full examination, when they took radiographs, that the truth emerged: the X-rays clearly revealed a bullet lodged inside the small body.
SR3 director Casey McLean stressed that harming the animal is not a minor matter but a federal crime, given the protections that cover harbor seals. She noted that while it is not unusual to see adult seals that have been shot, it is far more uncommon to find pups with gunshot wounds, making this case especially troubling for the rescue team.
The shooting is not being treated as an isolated incident. According to SR3, this is the third harbor seal shot in Washington in just the last eleven months. The two others were discovered wounded near Hood Canal, and unlike Number 24, neither of them survived their injuries, underscoring how deadly these encounters usually are.
For McLean, the pattern is as saddening as it is frustrating. She pointed to what she described as widespread misinformation about harbor seals and their supposed impact on salmon recovery, arguing that such misplaced blame is helping to drive the violent acts. In her view, the animals are being scapegoated for a far more complicated problem.
For now, the focus at SR3 remains on nursing Number 24 back to health during the busiest stretch of the pupping season, with caretakers monitoring the pup around the clock. The case also serves as a stark reminder that shooting a marine mammal carries serious legal consequences, even as those responsible for the Bellingham pup remain unidentified.