Police hunt for baby sea lion snatched from Los Angeles beach

(Reuters) - Police were searching on Monday for a baby sea lion snatched from a Los Angeles beach over the weekend, as well as four suspects in their twenties seen harassing and taunting two pups, authorities said. A record 2,250 sea lions, mostly pups, have washed up starving and stranded on Southern California beaches so far this year, a worsening phenomenon blamed on warming seas in the region that have disrupted the marine mammals' food supply. The Los Angeles Police Department was notified early on Sunday that a baby sea lion had been taken from Dockweiler State Beach, next to L.A. International Airport. Officers on the scene spoke to a witness who saw two men and two women "harassing and taunting" two pups, illegal under federal law. The suspects were seen taking one baby sea lion, getting into a dark Honda Civic, and leaving the area, police said. The second pup was found hiding near a bike path in the bushes by an official with Marine Animal Rescue, a nonprofit group that helps stranded sea animals back to the ocean and who responded to the incident at police request, the Los Angeles Times newspaper reported. (Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Eric Walsh)