Reward for info about dead Puget Sound sea lions

But a conservation group has offered up $10,000 for information that helps convict the perpetrators.At least seven dead sea lions and one harbor seal have washed up in Puget Sound and on the Washington coast since early December, Brian Gorman, a spokesman with NOAA Fisheries Service in Seattle, said Tuesday. One of the animals was a federally endangered Stellar sea lion.Bullets or bullet fragments have been found or recovered from all seven sea lions, but biologists are working to determine whether the bullets killed them, Gorman said. He noted that stranded mammals have been found with old bullet wounds that arent fatal.The number of dead marine mammals is unusual but not alarming so, authorities say.This is not uncommon to have dead marine mammals killed intentionally, said Mike Cenci, deputy chief of enforcement for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, which is assisting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the investigation. Im not saying its rampant, but we investigate a number of these a year.Another dead harbor seal, a yearling, was reported Tuesday at a park in Edmonds, but it wasnt immediately clear how it died, said Kristin Wilkinson, a marine mammal specialist with NOAA Fisheries Service. Its not uncommon for dead harbor seals to show up this time of year, and because the animals have ear holes rather than external ear flaps, some mistakenly think theyve been shot, she said.Salmon-hungry sea lions often get entangled in fishermans nets or catches, and some consider them to be nuisances.Theyre not warm and cuddly. These are big guys. Theyre stinky. Theyre carnivores, and theyre doing what they do best theyre hunting for fish, which puts them in conflict with fishermen, Gorman said.