Changing seal behavior
Now that the Appellate Court has upheld the original court decision to order the city of San Diego to restore the Children’s Pool to its original condition and deter the harbor seals from using it, the city should do as it has been instructed to do. Any delays will make it worse for the city as other matters surrounding this issue have come to light and may have to be addressed in court.
It has been brought to the attention of senior NOAA management that communities which create public displays out of wild pinniped populations are in violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).
The Appellate Court’s decision discusses harbor seals at the Children’s Pool as being domesticated to people and this is a significant behavior change in these animals. By allowing the harbor seals to use the Children’s Pool beach and become close to people, the city of San Diego has violated the MMPA by facilitating modification of the animal’s wild “sheltering” behavior.
As was pointed out in communications to senior NOAA management, technical reports done by researchers on the behavior patterns of the harbor seals at the Children’s Pool concluded the animals had modified behavior patterns in becoming used to the presence of people and hauling out on a public beach.
A report in the journal Marine Mammal Science in 2002 considered wild harbor seal “sheltering” behavior as seeking out offshore isolated beaches for haul out and pupping activity. Wild harbor seal “sheltering” behavior does not include harbor seals colonizing a public beach in the middle of the La Jolla recreation area.
Images of harbor seals at the Children’s Pool hauling out close to beach visitors are many and will be sent to senior NOAA management in the near future. NOAA policy of wild pinniped populations is to have them located in protected isolated colonies where people are not permitted access.
Another important issue is the fact that the city of San Diego did not complete an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) before allowing the harbor seals to colonize the Children’s Pool beach. An EIR should have considered the health risks to the public of letting the harbor seals use the beach, such as the high bacteria presence in the water and the beach sand.
Additionally, effects on the local marine ecosystem such as the attraction of predatory white sharks to the area should have been considered. Shark researchers warned the city about the possibility of attracting white sharks to the La Jolla coastline by having a harbor seal colony at the Children’s Pool.
In 2005, an adult harbor seal was found at the Children’s Pool with a shark bite from a large white shark. A shark researcher who examined images of the bite concluded that the injury was inflicted by a white shark 14 to 16 feet in length.

Kent Trego, La Jolla