Last September, members of the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Sea Otter Research and Conservation team recovered three otters that had been shot and killed near Asilomar Beach, in Pacific Grove, CA. Their killer remains at large. Now, state and federal authorities need your help finding the perpetrator.
 
We and other sea otter conservation groups are offering a $21,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual(s) responsible for the crime.  Southern sea otters are slowly recovering after being driven nearly to extinction by fur traders in the 19th century. Today, they're protected under federal law by the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Killing a California (or southern) sea otter is a crime punishable by federal and state fines, and possible jail time.
If you have any information about the shootings, contact Special Agent Souphanya of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at 650-876-9078. Anonymous reports can also be made by calling the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service contact line at 703-358-1949, or the California Department of Fish and Wildlife CalTIP line at 1-888-DFG-CALTIP.
What kind of person could ever bring themselves to shoot and kill three of the most adorable (not to mention endangered) cup-stacking, butterfly-chasing furballs in existence? This makes us sick. Come on, Internet – let's help track the killer down.
 
 
 
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Walter, the otter shot with a pellet gun and blinded in Vancouver Island, British Columbia, has recovered from most injuries. 
Vancouver Aquarium medical staff helped Walter recover from injuries but he is still blind and therefore cannot be released back into the wild.  He is now a resident of the Aquarium. 
The resilient otter may have been shot by shellfish fishermen who see otters as competition.
 
 
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