Seal proponents were in a celebratory mood at an April 25 fundraiser benefiting a seal cam at Children\u2019s Pool, during which San Diego mayor Bob Filner was honored for endorsing the cam and other actions he\u2019s taken to enhance marine-mammal protection. More than 100 people attended the fundraiser held at Images of Nature art gallery featuring Thomas Mangelsen\u2019s wildlife photography at 7916 Girard Ave. “Tom couldn\u2019t be here but he donated a couple of (photographic) images,” said gallery manager Kathy Hatch, noting the gallery “serves nonprofits.” “We\u2019d be glad to host the other side,” Hatch said. For years, the seal rookery at Casa Beach has been a lightning rod of contention between seal advocates and pro-beach-access proponents who\u2019ve dueled over which species should control the pocket beach. Seal advocates argue the rookery is an environmental treasure, deserving complete protection that should ultimately be turned into a wildlife refuge. Beach-access proponents insist Children\u2019s Pool, a gift by La Jolla philanthopist Ellen Browning Scripps, should be held in trust in perpetuity, preserving the pool as a place for children to wade in safely, and for divers, fishermen and other recreationalists to indulge their pursuits. The city has a shared-use policy in effect at the beach, supporting the status quo and a sometimes- uneasy truce between the two contending sides. At the fundraiser, former county Supervisor Pam Slater-Price noted the seal cam is “a very expensive undertaking, more than just a little foundation can absorb.” Before presenting Filner with an award \u2014 a framed seal cam photo of Casa Beach \u2014 for his ongoing support of the seal cam and protecting seals at Children\u2019s Pool, Slater-Price said, “Bob\u2019s willing to take on this issue that\u2019s controversial. But that doesn\u2019t bother him. If it\u2019s not controversial, he\u2019s not interested.” “I don\u2019t understand the controversy. This should be a no-brainer,” said Filner, who\u2019s taken a strong stand in favor of greater wildlife and environmental protection. “We have this incredible piece of nature and we are part of a whole, and it\u2019s so precious. We should protect it.” The mayor noted wildlife protection dovetails neatly with his administration\u2019s other environmental initiatives. “Here\u2019s my bumper sticker for the next four years: zero percent trash, 100 percent renewable energy and zero carbon emissions,” he said. Concerning the Children\u2019s Pool, former City Councilwoman Donna Frye, who helped with permitting and other issues involving the seal cam said, “There is a great need for a management plan we (City Council) put together in 2010 requiring a year-round rope and nighttime and daytime beach closures during pupping season.” Asked if she thought the seal cam was a good way to people watch, Frye replied, “I actually prefer to watch the seals. I find them much more interesting.” But the ex-councilwoman warned, “Do not expect them [seals] to have a top hat and balance a ball on their nose: They\u2019re not there to entertain us.” Also at the fundraiser, Larry Han of Western Alliance for Nature, a nonprofit that set up the seal cam and that has paid for it and been overseeing its operation, said, “It\u2019s been a record year for seal births. It\u2019s because weve protected it.” Han added the seal cam operates 24\/7, even at night with infrared. Noting the seal cam cost about $70,000, Han pointed out it\u2019s worth the price because the seals “attract thousands of tourists \u2026 It really is an economic asset to the city.” Sara Han, who organized the fundraiser, said after the event was pleased by how things turned out. “We\u2019re going to net over $5,000 for the seal cam,” she said, adding the money is much needed as the nonprofit Western Alliance “can\u2019t run this for very long because we can\u2019t completely count on volunteers \u2026 At some point, we\u2019re going to have to hire a program manager.” Han added fundraiser attendance far exceeded expectations, adding, “It was a tremendous success, just a great evening and I think everybody enjoyed themselves.”<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Seal proponents were in a celebratory mood at an April 25 fundraiser benefiting a seal cam at Children\u2019s Pool, during which San Diego mayor Bob Filner was honored for endorsing the cam and other actions he\u2019s taken to enhance marine-mammal protection. More than 100 people attended the fundraiser held at Images of Nature art gallery […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":258932,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11560","_seopress_titles_title":"Gallery event fuels donations for seal cam","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11560],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-258931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-la-jolla-village-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}