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Elephant seals can be found along California s coast. (Courtney Teague/Patch)
CENTRAL COAST, CA A Utah man was sentenced to three months in federal prison for fatally shooting a northern elephant seal in the head at a beach near San Simeon.
Jordan Gerbich, 30, pleaded guilty in December to a misdemeanor count of illegally taking a marine mammal, the U.S. Attorney s Office for the Central District of California announced Monday.
He was also sentenced to a year of supervised release and three months in home detention and was ordered to perform 120 hours of community service and to pay a $1,000 fine.
Man Gets Prison Time For Fatally Shooting Elephant Seal In Head patch.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from patch.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
San Simeon.
The former
Santa Maria, Ca., resident told prosecutors that he and another person had driven to an elephant seal viewing area near the Piedras Blancas State Marine Reserve that night.
Using .45-caliber pistol, Gerbich shot and killed a northern elephant seal resting on the beach in the
Piedras Blancas rookery, according to the plea agreement.
‘The next day, the elephant seal was discovered on the beach with a bullet hole in its head,’ the court document states.
It’s FriYAY! Piedras Blancas Rookery is the only elephant seal rookery in the world that is easily accessible, free & open to the public every day. Also, it is just down the road from the BLM-managed Piedras Blancas Light Station. #DiscovertheCoast#VisitCaliforniapic.twitter.com/rDW2P3Rrmo
By Janene Scully, Noozhawk North County Editor | @JaneneScully
December 21, 2020
Jordan Gerbich
A former Santa Maria Valley man has pleaded guilty to a federal misdemeanor charge for fatally shooting a northern elephant seal on a beach in San Luis Obispo County.
The guilty plea via a video conference hearing Monday came four months after Jordan Gerbich, 30, who now lives in Utah, was charged with one count of taking a marine mammal, according to the U.S. Attorney s Office.
In September 2019, the corpse of a northern elephant seal was found on a beach near San Simeon, close to a popular viewing area along Highway 1 where visitors can observe elephant seals, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Tuesday in press release.