Thursday, 4:30 PM
Harp seal shot in head, found dead on Cape
(New England Aquarium)
An X-ray of the harp seal's head shows pellets from a shotgun blast.
By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff
Federal marine authorities are investigating the death of a yearling seal on Cape Cod that had been shot in the head.
The body of the 55-pound harp seal was found dead last weekend in Sandwich but likely did not die from the shotgun blast, according to Tony LaCasse, a spokesman for the New England Aquarium. The pellets from the shotgun shell did not penetrate the animal's skull, but may have contributed to an infection the seal was already fighting.
"At the very least we have a pretty heinous act on the part of somebody shooting him," LaCasse said.
Dr. Scott Weber, the head veterinarian at the aquarium, is scheduled to discuss the results of a necropsy on the animal later this afternoon. Officials are still waiting on test results to determine what may have caused the death of the sea mammal.
The Marine Mammal Protection Act makes it a crime to shoot or kill a seal. Law enforcement officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are actively searching for the culprit.
While harbor seals and gray seals are native to Massachusetts, every winter juvenile harp seals migrate south from the Maritime provinces in Canada.
This particular seal had been handled and photographed by marine officials several weeks ago when it appeared on a boat ramp in Plymouth, LaCasse said.
(New England Aquarium)
The same harp seal was photographed a few weeks before its death on a boat landing in Plymouth.
