Overview

• For nearly a decade, decapitated harbor seal pups have been appearing on beaches at California’s MacKerricher State Park, mystifying scientists.
• Ecologist Frankie Gerraty identified coyotes as the culprits by setting up cameras near the seals’ stomping grounds at the state park.
• Video footage confirmed Gerraty’s pre-existing hunch, showing a coyote dragging a freshly killed seal and decapitating it.
• The coyote population in California’s Bay Area has rebounded in recent years, allowing a natural predator to reenter the food chain after being removed for decades.
• Gerraty theorizes that coyotes are decapitating the seals because the seal brains are nutritious and easier to access than the rest of the body, which is covered in blubber.