Following the reported deaths of three sea lion pups at La Jolla Cove, which some animal advocates believe were caused or influenced by human behavior, the Sierra Club Seal Society is looking for increased pinniped protections there.
“This is an emergency situation,” said Seal Society Chairwoman Robyn Davidoff. “The city [of San Diego] needs to talk to experts in sea lion behavior in of what is possible in of management.”
The Seal Society was instrumental in the city’s decision in 2014 to close the beach at La Jolla’s Children’s Pool to the public from Dec. 15 to May 15 annually to keep humans and harbor seals separated during the seals’ pupping season. That followed years of complaints from animal advocates about harassment of seals and their pups.
The group also had a key role in the city closing public access to Point La Jolla, the rocky area between La Jolla Cove and Boomer Beach — initially for half the year during sea lion pupping season and then year-round starting last fall. Those actions came after months of reports of people going onto the rocks and bothering — and in some cases harming — sea lions and pups.
La Jolla Cove’s beach and water remain open to the public with no restrictions — and the city says there are no immediate plans to change that.
But the latest concern at The Cove started after videos in recent weeks showed people getting too close to sea lions — sometimes resulting in scary and potentially dangerous reactions from the animals. Such incidents have occurred in past years as well.
Davidoff and Carol Toye, another leader of the Sierra Club Seal Society, said early this month that the “current situation where people are disturbing nursing females and petting newborn pups is unacceptable and unlawful, as the Marine Mammal Protection Act protects sea lions against harassment. It is also dangerous for people and sea lions to be in close proximity.”
They called for unspecified “management of the area, but not closure.”
But in the wake of the pup deaths, the group is stepping up pressure on the city to take action, urging specific steps to separate humans from sea lions at The Cove.
The Sierra Club said in a statement July 12 that three sea lion pups, all a few weeks old, had been found dead at La Jolla Cove in the space of six days following the Fourth of July holiday.
“One dead pup was found … on The Cove public beach, partly buried in the sand with a large lobster carcass positioned on its head to look like horns,” according to the statement. “The cause of these newborn pups’ deaths is disturbing and point to the continued mistreatment and harassment of the pups born in La Jolla Cove and a lack of proper oversight and management of wildlife and people.”
Asked how the club reached its conclusion that mistreatment and harassment played a part in the deaths, Davidoff told the La Jolla Light that “there were nine pups on July 5, and after a busy tourist weekend, three were found dead.”
“We’re not seeing this kind of mortality in the closure area [of Point La Jolla], where we don’t have crowds,” she said. “We see that as a control group. The mortality rate is higher than what you see in other areas. There is a certain amount of mortality within the first three months [after birth] … but this is well beyond the expected mortality rate and in such a time period. That is supposed to be over three months, but this was six days.”
However, with a certain number of pup deaths expected each year, the cause of these three is up for debate.
Michael Milstein, a representative of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric istration, said biologists believe “pup mortality can vary from a few percent to as much as 30 percent if feeding conditions are poor. There is not consistent long-term data on [the La Jolla Cove] colony, so it is difficult to know what proportion is represented.”
“It is certainly possible that stress or disturbance contributed to the death of the pups. Sea lion pups die for all sorts of reasons, from being separated from their mothers to hookworms, which are common in this population and can cause death in pups by doing damage to internal organs,” Milstein said.
“It would be impossible to tell exactly what the cause was without further information, but it does underscore the importance of people remaining at a safe distance for their own safety and for the safety of the animals. … We are ive of any conversations toward that end.”
The Sierra Club is asking NOAA to investigate the cause of the pups’ deaths and issue recommendations on what can be done to reduce future deaths.
Arguing that the larger problem rests with tourists who don’t know local rules for viewing the sea lions safely, the Seal Society has recommended the following steps, which it says “could be taken immediately to provide better protection” while maintaining public access:
• Cones and tape installed on the beach to create a visible barrier showing the public where to stand to view the sea lions
• A-frame signs placed on the beach using messages NOAA provides to the city to help educate the public about the vulnerability of pups and prevent damaging behavior
• Temporarily close the gate on one of the two stairways to the beach when pups are close by, sea lions are on the stairs and during nighttime after lifeguards leave
• Rangers present on the beach to educate and keep people at safe distances
Davidoff said the most problematic area — when viewing The Cove from Scripps Park — is the left staircase leading to the beach near a rocky area where sea lions congregate.
“From my experience being down there … people are on the stairs and people are using the beach, but the rocky area near the stairs is not a swimming area anyway,” she said. “People are still using that as a beach access … toward the middle and the other end [of the beach]. But the people that are there are not in beach gear, they are there to watch the sea lions. [The areas where sea lions congregate] can be fluid, which is why you need a ranger and/or some of these other steps. Until we try it, we don’t know how it will work.”
Davidoff said rangers could move any cones and/or caution tape as needed or during times of year when pups are more likely to be present.
The sea lion birthing season runs from late May to early July, but Davidoff said given that sea lion pups are not strong swimmers in their first few months, she recommends a four-month window after that.
“That’s all we’re asking for,” she said. “Some protection from people until the sea lions can swim well.”
Davidoff and other Seal Society leaders have not called for a public closure of The Cove, and Michael Ruiz, chief park ranger for the city Parks & Recreation Department, said this month that he believes “it is important to maintain La Jolla Cove as open.”
However, Ruiz urged visitors who “are not swimming [to] stay up at the boardwalk. … That still allows divers, swimmers and all those going into the water to enjoy themselves as well.”
Ruiz’s recommendations were followed by a call from some of La Jolla planning groups for a sea lion management plan that would deter and possibly remove the pinnipeds from La Jolla Cove to prevent the possibility of another beach closure.
La Jolla Parks & Beaches board President Bob Evans said at the July 9 meeting of the La Jolla Community Planning Association that “we have reached a critical stage at La Jolla Cove, and that is the current unmanaged sea lion takeover at the beach there. … Essentially, much of the beach has become unusable for all-around recreational use.”
San Diego City Councilman Joe LaCava, whose District 1 includes La Jolla, said twice in the past week — once during an appearance at the La Jolla Town Council meeting July 11 and again in a statement released July 16 — that he, too, is focused on keeping La Jolla Cove open. Those statements reiterated comments he made last year.
“I continue to work with multiple city departments on the management of The Cove,” LaCava’s latest statement said. “Clearly, too many visitors crowd the beach and the stairs, not for coastal access or to reach the water but to observe the sea lions. Worse, they often get too close, putting themselves and their children at risk.
“As I have stated since the closure of Point La Jolla, I have a bright line to ensure continued unfettered public access to the beach and waters of La Jolla Cove. Tools at our disposal include better signage, intervention by park rangers, education through tourism channels and working with community partners. I want visitors to enjoy the unique opportunity of watching wildlife in an urban setting, and the public’s access to the La Jolla Cove beach and waters must always come first.”
Evans asked that Parks & Beaches and the Community Planning Association work together to “demand the city take immediate action to manage The Cove beach and return the beach to people for recreational use.”
“The city needs to adopt any one of the [NOAA]-approved strategies to manage and deter pinnipeds from the beach and move them to other surrounding areas,” Evans said.
NOAA’s list of potential deterrence methods includes barriers, water sprinklers or sprayers, flashing lights and noisemakers.
Community Planning Association President Harry Bubbins said he would add the topic to a future agenda for full discussion and a possible vote on recommendations. ♦
