The State - News from March 9, 1987

Officials are puzzled by a series of point-blank shootings that have claimed the lives of eight California sea lions in San Francisco Bay during the past month. Discovery of the slain animals has led to speculation that the killings may be the work of one man or boatload of frustrated herring fishermen fed up with the sea lions eating their catch and tearing up their nets. “I think it’s the same person or the same boat or the same group of people,” said Raymond Dieter, a veterinarian with the Sausalito Animal Hospital who performed autopsies on the slain sea lions. “There’s something unusual in that they’re picking the biggest males. I don’t know if it’s some kind of Rambo thing, some kind of macho thing. I don’t know what’s going on,” he said. Jim Beckwith, a state game warden, said the killings may be legal. Commercial fishermen with the proper permits can kill sea lions that interfere with their nets.