College Club Angry Over Sea Lion’s Death : Court: An explosive in a fish blew off the animal’s head in front of a passing group of schoolchildren. The suspect denies guilt.

COSTA MESA —  An Orange Coast College science club has started a letter-writing campaign to push for tough prosecution of a man accused of blowing up a sea lion by tossing it a dead fish with an explosive inside.

The Marine Mammal Research Group, a club of 25 students interested in marine biology, wants students and other people interested in sea lions to send letters to Los Angeles Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti and encourage his office to fully prosecute a man arrested on suspicion of killing the sea lion nicknamed Oscar.

Vincent Terzoli, a San Pedro fisherman, was charged in June with felony cruelty to animals in the April 8 incident near Berth 73 in Los Angeles Harbor. Police allege that Terzoli threw Oscar a “seal bomb”--an explosive usually used to harmlessly scare away sea lions--inside a fish carcass.

The explosive blew the mammal’s head off, and the incident was witnessed by a boatload of passing schoolchildren on a harbor tour, police said.

Oscar--also known as Jelly by some old salts and regulars in the harbor area--was a frequent visitor to the San Pedro waterfront and often ate what visitors threw to him, Los Angeles Port Police Lt. Martin Renteria said.

Renteria said concerned residents called the police after the incident. “We had several complaints about how cruel it was to destroy an animal,” he said.

OCC marine biology professor Dennis Kelly, who advises the Marine Mammal Research Group, said students do not want charges against the fisherman to be reduced in any plea-bargaining arrangements.

“Students want to encourage the district attorney to fully prosecute the gentleman who carried out this deed,” Kelly said. “It was pretty awful.”

The charge against Terzoli carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a $20,000 fine. After his arrest in June, Terzoli told reporters he was innocent.

Kelly said the death-by-seal-bomb was a violation of the Marine Animal Protection Act and difficult to accept because the animal had become accustomed to interacting with people.

“It was a sea lion that was encouraged by people in that area to come around and ask for food,” Kelly said. “It had become tame.”

According to Kelly, seal bombs are devices similar to firecrackers, measuring about 3 1/2 inches long and half an inch wide. Fishermen may legally toss them in the water, where their blasts scare off hungry sea lions, Kelly said.

Carolyn Heath, assistant professor of biology at Fullerton College, said she has never seen a similar incident against a sea lion but has seen animals with bullet holes on occasion.

“It’s an attitude problem,” said Heath, who has led summer student groups from Orange County to Baja California to study sea lions and marine wildlife. “Are we the only ones allowed to eat fish, or do we share?”

Renteria said the case is scheduled to go to a jury trial Nov. 15.