Baby seal stabbed on Oregon coast prompts search for suspect

This April 2025 photo provided by Seaside Aquarium shows a baby seal who the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said was stabbed on an Oregon beach in March. (Tiffany Boothe/Seaside Aquarium via AP)

NESKOWIN, Ore. — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is searching for the person who stabbed a baby seal multiple times on a beach in Oregon.

The seal survived the March attack in a cove in the small town of Neskowin, which sits along the Pacific Ocean, NOAA said Monday. The administration’s marine stranding team was able to help the animal relocate after monitoring and evaluating it.

The agency’s law enforcement office, which is investigating the attack, was searching for a “person of interest” spotted by a witness. Officials were also looking for the owner of a vehicle seen in a parking lot near the cove behind a condominium building that may be connected with the Sunday evening attack, according to NOAA.

Officials are asking anyone with information on the person of interest, vehicle owner or attack to call NOAA’s enforcement hotline.

In the spring and summer, juvenile elephant seals will often drag themselves onto Oregon’s beaches to spend weeks shedding their hair and skin, according to Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Institute. Adult elephant seals are rarely seen in the state.

The federal Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibits harassing, harming, killing or feeding wild elephant seals and other marine mammals. Violators can face criminal penalties of up to US$100,000 in fines and up to one year in jail.

The Associated Press