Tuna Captain Charged With Killing Dolphin on Fishing Trip Off Mexico

A San Diego tuna fisherman was charged Tuesday with shooting and harassing bottlenose dolphins off southern Mexico and later lying to federal investigators.

Emanuel Terzoli, captain of the Sea Hunter, killed at least one of the dolphins Dec. 3 and attempted to capture and kill others, according to an indictment returned by a federal grand jury. Prosecutors said they can remember no other case in which a person was criminally accused of shooting dolphins.

Terzoli, 48, allegedly attacked the mammals with explosives and high-powered rifles while an observer from the National Marine Fisheries Service was on the boat as part of a program to protect the dolphins, prosecutors said.

Highly Intelligent Mammals

Bottlenose dolphins--considered highly intelligent and friendly toward humans--may not be hunted, captured, killed or harassed under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972.

U.S. Atty. Peter Nunez noted in a press release Tuesday that Flipper, the dolphin that had its own television series, was a bottlenose dolphin, as are Sea World’s performing dolphins. He said the indictment is part of a continuing effort to protect marine mammals from tuna-fishing operations.

Dolphins have long been the bane of commercial tuna fishermen, who find it difficult to catch large numbers of tuna in their nets without taking in dolphins, which are frequently near the tuna.

The fisheries service allows tuna fishermen to net small amounts of four types of dolphins because they are known to “carry” tuna, which form schools beneath them. However, tuna do not typically form schools under bottlenose dolphins, and fishermen may not interfere with them, prosecutors said.

Few Details Offered

The indictment provides few details of the incident, and prosecutors declined to say why Terzoli might have attacked the dolphins when he knew there was an observer aboard. Terzoli is charged with one count of illegally taking marine mammals and three counts of making false statements to a federal officer.

The Sea Hunter, which is registered in Long Beach but based in San Diego, left port Oct. 31 and returned Jan. 26, the indictment says.

Terzoli lied Feb. 13 when he was questioned about the incident by a fisheries service agent, falsely claiming that he did not shoot to hit the dolphins and that he shot no closer than 50 feet from the dolphins, the indictment charges, adding that Terzoli lied when he said he never saw blood on the water.

Attempts to reach Terzoli for comment were unsuccessful. He is scheduled to appear for a bail hearing this morning before U.S. Magistrate Roger Curtis McKee.