Federal officials on Monday announced a $20,000 reward as they search for a man suspected of decapitating a dead sea lion at a Monterey County beach earlier this year.

According to the NOAA Fisheries' Office of Law Enforcement , the incident took place at Point Pinos Beach in Pacific Grove around 8:40 p.m. on July 27. Officials said a man was seen using a hunting knife to remove the head of the sea lion.

The sea lion was dead prior to the incident and that the cause of death has not been determined.

Officials said after the man sawed off the head of the sea lion, he placed the head in a zip-style plastic bag. He was last seen leaving the area in a late model white Cadillac Escalade SUV.

Man suspected in a July 27, 2025 incident at Point Pinos Beach in Monterey County where a dead sea

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