PROTECT SEA LIONS BUT KEEP BEACHES OPEN
As I stepped onto the sands of La Jolla Cove on July 23, I filmed a “sea lion attack” video that went viral. The video begins with a hefty bull sea lion strutting around the beach as tourists eyed the animal warily. From my right side, the alpha sea lion, who I named Chonkers in the video, exploded from the depths of the cove and made a beeline towards what appears to be a crowd of tourists. Mayhem erupts at the La Jolla Cove as the two sea lions begin fighting each other in close proximity to the crowds of people on the beach. Children are running away shrieking while grown men, also screaming, get out of the way; and I laugh offscreen in the video as I bathe in the chaos.
At last, I think to myself, the animals are fighting back. As a La Jolla local, every summer I have been dismayed at the behavior some tourists display towards our native marine life. I conveyed this same frustration to “Inside Edition,” CNN and Fox 5, among other news outlets that reached out for interviews in response to the video I posted on Instagram. La Jolla locals, and San Diego natives who enjoy the ocean, live peacefully with these beautiful creatures. It is the tourists who are uneducated about wildlife interaction who stress these animals. To date, the video has garnered over 20 million views collectively on social media platforms.
On Sept. 18, the California Coastal Commission voted to close off neighboring Point La Jolla and Boomer Beach. On one hand, this strong-arm approach ensures that the sea lions are protected from the harmful human interaction of a minority of tourists year round. On the other hand, it limits the nature experience many of us San Diegans have enjoyed throughout our lives here. I remember being a child and walking on Point La Jolla near sunset, laughing at the wobbly shuffle the sea lions do as they move in and out of the water. I was a respectful distance away from the animals.
As an executive board member of the La Jolla Village Merchants Association, my phone rang with texts from other members with their opinions on the event. My friends at Town Council relayed the conversations they had regarding the sea lion incident as well.
And as this amendment to close both beaches down year round passed unanimously, I can’t help but feel responsible given the transnational attention my video received. Seeing the trajectory of these beach closures, I am now worried that this will escalate and eventually lead to the final closure of La Jolla Cove in the future. While I understand that wildlife should be protected, it is more imperative that we teach our visitors how to respectfully share spaces with the sea lions. Punishing the masses for the behavior of a few should not be the case.
I have personally intervened when I witnessed an individual harassing a sea lion. A few weeks after the sea lion attack video, I was swimming and snorkeling with friends near Sunny Jim’s Sea Cave. A couple of bull sea lions slept on the edge of the shore, and an older man wanted to set up his chair in their area. He threw orange peels at them, awakening and enraging the sea lions. They barked at him, but he kept throwing items at them. I stepped towards him and yelled to leave them alone. After a back and forth banter which included him arguing, “Humans are the bosses” and that “they should move out of the way for us,” he left after I threatened to call the police for disturbing wildlife.
It’s true that some individuals will not comply with regulations unless they are specifically threatened with repercussions. La Jolla locals, and all those who cherish the sea and its creatures, need to take responsibility and ensure that ill-intentioned visitors are held accountable for their actions.
In all honesty, I don’t have the perfect solution to this continuing problem. I may have some suggestions: Create a volunteer program for high school and college students to gain community service hours. They’d be tasked with patrolling the beaches during peak tourist season in the summer. Or subsidize more wildlife personnel by privatizing access to the sea lion beaches with a $2 entry fee. All I know is that beach closures to the public should not be the end-allbe-all. The number of visitors La Jolla receives who are respectful exponentially outnumber the uneducated few who harass the sea lions.
Seeing the trajectory of these beach closures, I am now worried that this will escalate and eventually lead to the final closure of La Jolla Cove in the future.