Reward offered in deaths of sea lions in Washington State Waters

The environmental group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has offered a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the conviction of those responsible for shooting at least seven sea lions in Washington state waters.

Six protected California sea lions, an endangered Steller sea lion and a harbor seal have been found dead since December 1, nearly all of them in Puget Sound, officials said Tuesday.

Seven of the animals had bullet wounds, and circumstances regarding the eighth were a "bit ambiguous," said Brian Gorman, spokesman for the Seattle fisheries unit of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

No arrests had been made by Tuesday.

"We are really saddened by this violence," Brenda Peterson of the group Seal Sitters told CNN Seattle affiliate KIRO last week.

A sea lion found off West Seattle had a bullet in one of its lungs, Gorman said. Read More