Bogus ad promotes seal hunt on Mendocino Coast

In a photo posted on Craigslist this week, a smiling man holds a bloody seal carcass for an ad announcing a seal hunt is being held on the Mendocino Coast.

The online photo appears to be real, but the seal hunt - which would be illegal anywhere in the United States - is a hoax, according to wildlife officials.

“Totally bogus. This exact photo was posted on Craigslist in November 2013 with a similar, if not exact ad,” said Fish and Wildlife Lt. Patrick Foy. The photo likely was taken at a seal hunt in a country where it is legal, he said.

The fake ad is one of a growing number of animal-related Internet hoaxes, which have included people claiming to sell mountain lion kittens, monkeys and even penguins.

“We have had an upswing of Craigslist hoax ads,” Foy said. “It is creating a lot of unnecessary work for several reporters and our own law enforcement personnel to debunk them.”

The ads generally are quickly noticed and removed from the Internet by federal and state wildlife officials like state Fish and Wildlife Lt. Michael Milotz, whose job includes scouring the Web for illegal animal trafficking. He said he’s not sure what laws are broken when the suspected crime turns out to be an Internet joke, rather than a Fish and Wildlife offense.

It was unclear who was responsible for having the recent seal hunting ad removed from Craigslist, but it was posted for only a day before vanishing Wednesday morning.

“Come enjoy our first Mendo coast seal hunt!” the short-lived ad begins.

It offers to train attendees how to attract and kill seals, which has been illegal in the U.S. since 1972. The ad blames seals for destroying fisheries and attracting sharks, which then attack surfers.

It details what kind of firearms and bullets to use.

The ad promised seal stew, “Newfoundland-style” after the hunt.

The ad was likely posted to irk people, Milotz said. And it did.

“When I saw this last night, I was freaking out,” said a Sonoma County woman who did not want her last name printed for fear that the person or persons who posted the ad might seek retribution.

The woman, Laurie, said she contacted state Fish and Wildlife officials to see whether they’d changed the law against seal hunting and to report the ad.

In Fort Bragg’s Noyo Harbor, where the ad directed would-be hunters to meet, no one had heard of the hoax.

“This is the first I’ve heard of it,” said Noyo Harbor District Manager Jere Kleinbach. “It seems rather bizarre.”

At the Noyo Fishing Co., news of the hoax elicited a chuckle from Kurt Akin.

“That’s a weird one,” he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at ?462-6473 or glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter ?@MendoReporter.