SEA LION ADVOCATES URGE PUBLIC CLOSURE OF LA JOLLA BIRTHING AREA
Sierra Club groups say adults, pups being harassed by humans
The San Diego mayor’s office says the city is pursuing measures to try to prevent people’s harassment of sea lions and their pups at Point La Jolla next to La Jolla Cove but likely not the temporary closure that the Sierra Club Seal Society and Sierra Club San Diego want, at least for now.
Advocates pointed to two recent incidents in which they said a sea lion pup died at the hands of visitors trying to get a photo and a pregnant sea lion suffered severe head trauma.
On Tuesday, the groups called on Mayor Todd Gloria to declare an emergency and temporarily close the site to the public during sea lion pupping season, which runs from June 1 to Oct. 31, while keeping the viewing area from an adjacent wall open. Point La Jolla is a rocky area between The Cove beach and Boomer Beach, where sea lions often go on land to rest.
David Rolland, senior adviser of communications in Gloria’s office, told the La Jolla Light, a publication of the U-T Community Press, that “closure of Point La Jolla would require (California) Coastal Commission approval, and that is unlikely to be granted quickly. The mayor is open to exploring that option in the longer term if relevant stakeholders and regulatory agencies can reach consensus on a solution.”
“For now,” Rolland said, “he is committed to already-announced education measures such as new stencils and signs that will be implemented in the next few days, and in