On a California Beach, a 'Vicious Act of Brutality'

There's a $5,000 reward for anyone with info leading to conviction for the person who shot dolphin to death
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 17, 2018 8:10 AM CST
A Dolphin Was Found Dead on a Calif. Beach. It Had Been Shot
This Feb. 24, 2016, photo shows a different deceased dolphin being handled by a wildlife specialist on a beach in Argentina.   (Fundacion Mundo Marino via AP)

Want to make $5,000? If you know who shot and killed a dolphin in California, the money is yours if you have info that leads to a conviction. "There is NO excuse for such brutality against these beautiful animals," Marine Animal Rescue of El Segundo writes on its Facebook page, next to an "upsetting" picture of the dolphin it retrieved Nov. 8 in Manhattan Beach after receiving a call about it, per NBC News. After the group had the dolphin undergo a necropsy, it was discovered the marine creature had died of a gunshot wound; a doctor was able to pull the bullet out of the dolphin, says MAR President Peter Wallerstein.

"It's just a vicious act of brutality," he adds, noting that he's asked the National Marine Fisheries Service to open an investigation into the killing. Wallerstein says in more than 30 years in the field, he's never seen a shot dolphin. He's also not optimistic the perp will be caught—"we very rarely find these people"—but the $5,000 reward might help convince someone to offer up info. "What the reward does is put [the culprit] on notice," he says. (Sea lions and a seal were shot to death in a "heartbreaking" incident near Seattle.)

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