Man Accused of Shooting Dolphins Is Freed on Bail

A San Diego tuna seiner skipper accused of shooting and harassing bottlenose dolphins off Mexico did so after fishing operations on his boat had ended for the day, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

Emanuel Terzoli, captain and owner of the Sea Hunter, pleaded not guilty Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Roger Curtis McKee to charges of shooting and harassing what prosecutors described as the good-natured bottlenose dolphin and later lying while recounting the incident for federal investigators.

Terzoli, a Point Loma resident, was released on $10,000 bail despite the objections of Assistant U.S. Atty. Melanie Pierson, who argued for higher bail since the nature of Terzoli’s business frequently takes him out of the country.

Pierson said in a telephone interview after the arraignment that the crew of the Sea Hunter was “done fishing for the day” Dec. 3 of southern Mexico, and no porpoises were entangled in its nets when Terzoli fired at the dolphins.

“He shot these dolphins in cold blood,” Pierson said.

Little Comment

Defense attorney Christopher Schatz said: “I believe evidence will establish that they were not finished fishing at the time. Mr. Terzoli didn’t shoot at the animals for the purpose of hurting or injuring them.”

Schatz added that Terzoli was merely trying to “scare off” the dolphins. “As far as we understand, there is no evidence of a porpoise being killed.”

U.S. Atty. Peter Nunez said in a press release Tuesday that Flipper, the dolphin in the old television series, and the performing dolphins at Sea World are bottlenose dolphins. Comparisons between trained dolphins and those in the high seas are irrelevant, defense attorneys said after Terzoli’s arraignment.

“That is not a Flipper-type animal but a larger marine mammal that interferes with fishing operations,” Schatz said.

Another defense attorney, Ramon Castro, said: “Some of these animals are predators, not the animals we see at Sea World.”

According to an indictment returned by a federal grand jury Monday, Terzoli, 48, attacked the mammals Dec. 3 with explosives and high-powered rifles while an observer from the National Marine Fisheries Service was on board as part of a program to protect the dolphins.

The indictment charges Terzoli with killing at least one dolphin and attempting to harass, capture and kill others. Pierson said Terzoli shot at least two dolphins.

Characterized by its good nature and high intelligence, the bottlenose dolphin may not be hunted, captured, killed or harassed under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972.

Dolphins have drawn the wrath the commercial tuna fishermen, whose tuna-filled nets also occasionally turn up dolphins, which are often found near tuna.

The fishery service permits tuna fishermen to net small numbers of four types of dolphins--not including the bottlenose--because they are often found near schools of tuna, prosecutors said.

Ban on Interference

The bottlenose, however, is not typically in proximity to tuna, and fishermen are prohibited from interfering with them.

Terzoli is charged with one count of illegal taking--defined as harassing, hunting, capturing or killing--of marine mammals and three counts of making false statements to a federal agent. The first count carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $20,000 fine; the other counts carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The indictment alleges that Terzoli lied last Feb. 13 when he was questioned about the attacks by a fishery service agent, falsely claiming that he did not shoot to hit the dolphins and that he shot no closer than 50 feet from them. Terzoli is also accused of lying when he told the agent he never saw blood on the water.

The San Diego-based Sea Hunter left port last Oct. 31 and returned on Jan. 26, the indictment said.

Terzoli is scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge William Enright next Monday.