Someone is setting nets in Puget Sound that are killing baby seals, inadvertently it seems...but the seals are still dead. More needs to be learned about this, but I just wanted to raise awareness on this subject. You can get some murky details from the West Seattle Blog link above. Why is my part of the country becoming the the least aquatic-mammal-friendly part of the US?
A new concern about baby seals in West Seattle waters: Local residents who asked to be anonymous e-mailed us (and other news organizations) with a claim that a net fishing crew strung its nets "right across one of the most popular haul-out beaches for these pups at Anchor Park ... (Other) fishermen ... reported they have never seen a net attached to these rocks before this year. Several fishermen witnessed the net had drowned three seal pups. ... This is a clear violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. We also have photo documentation of this same fisherman pulling a fourth seal pup out of his net. We cannot tell for sure if this particular pup is dead or alive."
See the above link to the West Seattle Blog for the image. In case this doesn't disturb you enough, check out this film of a seal left by its mother on the beach some time ago while she hunted for food. This was a nice feel-good story locally and I would expect people to be pretty ticked off about the seals getting caught in nets.