The State - News from Dec. 16, 1988

Three Cambria men were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges they shot sea otters off the Central California coast during a scuba diving trip. Bruce Magnusen, 35, and David Perry, 21, were accused of firing shots from a .22-caliber rifle from a boat at a group of otters feeding in Estero Bay. Their companion, William Walker, 31, was charged only with conspiracy. The mammals are classified a threatened species. Assistant U.S. Atty. Stephen A. Mansfield said the alleged shooting was witnessed by a group of Sea World Research Institute scientists who were studying the behavioral patterns of sea otters.