California officials offer $10K reward in hunt for sea otter killers

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif., Aug. 30 (UPI) -- Wildlife authorities in Central California hope $10,000 will be enough to expose whoever's responsible for shooting to death three federally protected sea otters this summer, officials said Tuesday.

The male southern sea otters, two sub-adults and one adult, were found slain earlier this month in Santa Cruz County, between Santa Cruz Harbor and Seacliff State Beach in Aptos, officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and California Department of Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement said in a news release Tuesday.

It is believed the animals were killed in late July or early August.

Authorities are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for the animals' deaths.

Southern sea otters have been protected as a threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act since 1977. They are also guarded by the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 and California state law. Anyone convicted of killing an animal under this classification is subject to a $100,000 fine and jail time.

It's unclear exactly where the otters were shot, officials said. Forensic results indicate they died of gunshot wounds but those injuries were likely sustained at sea, and the bodies later washed ashore near Soquel Cove in Monterey Bay.

The area in which the otters were found is located just south of the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park -- about eight miles west of Santa Cruz and about 80 miles southeast of San Francisco.

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