SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Authorities are investigating after a sea lion was found decapitated at a San Francisco beach earlier this month, according to an ABC News report.
Multiple news reports suggest the sea lion was found dead at Ocean Beach on Sept. 9 without a head.
Authorities say the sea lion had a clean post-mortem cut by a "very sharp object," according to details from an ABC News and KRON4 report.
It's unclear who cut the sea lion's head off.
"Maybe the person who did this didn't know that it was illegal, or maybe they did," Sue Pemberton of the California Academy of Sciences told ABC News. "I don't really know what this person was thinking, but people might collect them for the novelty of having a trophy of some sort."
Scientists may remove the heads of dead mammals for research, but that doesn't appear to be what happened here, Pemberton told KRON4.
Interfering with marine mammal carcasses is considered a federal crime under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Violating the act is punishable by up to one year in jail and fines up to tens of thousands of dollars.
"All Marine Mammals are protected in life and in death," Pemberton said, according to KRON4.
Read more from ABC News and KRON4.
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