Seattle Parks & Recreation workers remove the months-old carcass of a California sea lion from the beach at Seacrest Park Cove 1 on Wednesday in West Seattle. The marine mammal’s death was among numerous suspicious sea-lion deaths last fall. It was buried at this site but winter tides uncovered the carcass, so on Wednesday city workers lifted and placed the carcass in a tarp for removal to a local rendering company. Lynn Shimamoto, of Seal Sitters, a volunteer group dedicated to marine- mammal safety and beach stewardship, said the animal was found decapitated on the beach last November, and in life was about 8 feet long and weighed 600 pounds. The animals are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act.(Alan Berner / The Seattle Times)