Scientists finally solve the mystery of headless seal pups found on California beaches. Here's who the culprit is

Starting in 2016, dozens of decapitated seal pups have been found on beaches along the California coast. Many speculated that the seals, found with “their heads torn off,” were being harmed by humans.

Scientists, however, said that the cuts were jagged and did not appear to have been made with a knife. A team was thus set up on the case, and camera traps were put in place in the state's northern region. What the team saw shocked them.

The footage showed a coyote dragging a lifeless seal pup and tearing off its head on camera. The cameras that captured the video are part of UC Santa Cruz PhD student Frankie Gerraty's land and sea connections research. They had joined hands with Sarah Grimes, stranding coordinator at the Noyo Center for Marine Science in Mendocino County, according to Daily Mail. 

The team has said they have planned to release the video in the future. “It was so gruesome,” Grimes told The Mercury News. “I was like marine mammal CSI, seeing all the dead pups with their heads torn off, and I'm like, 'What the heck did that?'” Grimes added that the discovery was “surprising.”

Grimes said that although seals and coyotes coexist in the same habitat, coyotes tend to go after live marine life. The team set up cameras at MacKerricher Beach in northern California to see what happened.

“We set up camera traps and got one really solid video of a coyote dragging a harbor seal pup and beheading it,” Gerraty said. “We are pretty confident there has been predation at four sites along the Northern California coast.”

Researchers are trying to find out why the coyotes only feast on the heads of the seal pups. Steveston resident David Stuart came across one of the first sightings of headless seal pups in 2016. “This was a crime scene as far as I was concerned; this needed to be looked at,” he told Richmond News at the time.