Santa Maria man sentenced to 3 months in prison for killing elephant seal
LOS ANGELES – A man formerly from Santa Maria has been sentenced to three months in federal prison for shooting and killing a northern elephant seal on a beach near San Simeon.
In December, Jordan Gerbich, 30, pleaded guilty in to one misdemeanor count of illegally taking a marine mammal.
In September 2019, Gerbich, who now lives in Utah, drove to an elephant viewing area near the Piedras Blancas Marine Reserve and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. He brought with him a .45-caliber pistol which he used to shoot and kill a northern elephant seal as it was resting on the beach in a rookery. The elephant seal was discovered on the beach with a bullet hole in its head the following day.
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A former California resident admitted in court Monday to fatally shooting a northern elephant seal last year, violating federal law.
The U.S. District’s Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said in a statement obtained by NBC News that Jordan Gerbich, 30, pleaded guilty to taking a marine mammal for shooting the seal on a beach near San Simeon. He confessed to transporting the animal from the Piedras Blancas Marine Reserve and Monterey Bay National Marine to the beach where he shot it in the head with a .45-caliber pistol.
Federal prosecutors said the animal’s carcass was discovered the next day with a bullet in its head.