An animal activist’s role in turning in two divers who violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act has resulted in a death threat.
The threat, sent Saturday in an e-mail from a man who calls himself Biker Bobbie, with an alias, “Death to Seal Watch,” cites an ongoing case from September involving the divers. The men allegedly became impatient when the protected seals at the Children’s Pool wouldn’t move, so they eventually entered the water, violating the MMPA, said Bryan Pease, attorney for the Animal Protection Rescue League (APRL).
According to Pease, one of the divers is affiliated with a local e-mail club called Dive Bums.
But local diver Zephen Specht says he is affiliated with the Dive Bums and it doesn’t have any biker associations.
“I just don’t see bikers spending any time rounding up [people such as] PETA activists,” Specht said. “I think they have better things to do. I would hope so, anyway.”
Pease said some of the employees of APRL’s Seal Watch filmed the men in September, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently asked for the footage in an effort to prosecute the divers. Biker Bobbie knows many of the details, as reflected in his e-mail.
“What’s scary is that this guy knows so much about [the APRL employee] he references,” Pease said.
But he added that while he believes Biker Bobbie is a diver or someone who may be affiliated with the Dive Bums, most divers and swimmers are good to the seals.
“It only takes one crazy guy to send out an e-mail like this,” Pease said.
In the e-mail, Biker Bobbie said that the APRL employee who turned in the two divers has “brought this on herself” and that many of the local divers have connections to biker clubs. The author says she will be hunted down for revenge and “dealt with very harshly, if she is not killed.”
Pease contacted the FBI. FBI public information officer April Langwell said the bureau is evaluating the information.
“It’s a federal crime to send death threats through e-mail and to intimidate a witness,” Pease said.
The original violation can carry up to a $100,000 fine and up to a year in jail. The minimum fine is $100, said U.S. Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Lisa Nichols. The violation is a misdemeanor, but the sentence depends on the level of knowledge and intent, she said.
Investigators took the report and will now trace the e-mail, Pease said.
Specht, a chemist, said most of the divers he knows are professionals, like him.
“The main thing La Jolla activists have to watch out for isn’t divers or bikers. It’s the residents, because the animal activists are out there blocking their views and yelling,” Specht said.