A baby harbor seal, just three weeks old, was found at the tidal flats in Bellingham, Washington with a gunshot wound to the head.

Rescuers at SR3 (Sealife Response, Rehab and Research) rushed her to safety, took X-rays, and confirmed what they feared: someone had shot this pup at point-blank range.

She is recovering. But she almost didn't make it. And two adult harbor seals shot in the same region — one near Hood Canal, one in Quilcene — were not so lucky. Both died.

This is not a single act of cruelty. It is a pattern. And it is a federal crime. Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, harming a harbor seal carries serious penalties. Yet no one has been held accountable.

SR3 believes the shootings are fueled by a dangerous myth: that seals are wiping out salmon. The science says otherwise. Seals eat more than 60 species of sea creatures, and researchers have found that even removing every seal and sea lion from Washington waters would not recover salmon populations — because the real cause is human-driven habitat destruction.

Whoever shot this pup needs to be found and prosecuted. Sign the petition to demand that NOAA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service open a formal investigation into these shootings — before another seal is killed.