Separate seals, humans with moveable rope There is a rising movement toward people and seals sharing the Children’s Pool. Here’s how to keep the seals safe, and give year-round beach and ocean access to humans: Separate the seals from the people with a moveable rope stretching from the beach to the water. Fortunately, most seals leave for the summer and return in the winter. During the summer, place the rope parallel and next to the seawall, and lined up with the submarine rock. Most of the beach will be open for people to use and the seals will have a sanctuary to lounge and sleep. During the winter, move the rope toward the street and line it up from the rock at the base of the stairs with the rounded rock just offshore. That way, almost all of the shoreline can be used by the seals, and cold water divers and swimmers may access the water too. At any time a seal might come onto the human side, and if he or she is uncomfortable, the seal side is always available for their safety. Some say the water at the Children’s Pool is polluted. I swam in the ocean up to the day the Pool was closed, and a few times after that, and experienced no waterborne illness. None of the people I spoke to who swim at the Pool have become sick. Apparently, a test to determine the effect seal E. coli has on people was inconclusive. I believe it will be safe for people to swim at the Children’s Pool, but further testing is necessary to prove this. Usually, harbor seals are reluctant to haul out in the presence of humans. We know that our seals sleep with people just a few yards away. Their behavior has been altered; so even with people on the beach the seals will still be able to behave naturally. Once, a young seal swam with me, and then touched its face on my swim fin. People can share the ocean and beach with seals. I believe both seals and people have a right to use the beach and the sea. Let’s move ahead and share them. – Patrick Ahern, La Jolla Harbor seal rookery not a new phenomenon The recent Letter to the Editor “Could Shark Population Cause Shark Attack?” by a La Jolla relative newcomer is misleading and is illustrative of the faulty intellectual foundations on which environmental decisions are often made. Sadly, the writer uses his title as authority for his comments. The La Jolla harbor seal rookery is not a new phenomenon (the seawall is built atop a rock complex named “Seal Rock” on all of the old maps), nor is the population of seals increasing at this rookery. Furthermore, the garibaldi, our local ocean “goldfish,” have not been eaten to excess by the seals and no marine researchers are making that claim. Finally, for the writer to make the claim that somehow a 2008 shark attack offshore of one of North County’s long, sandy beaches is somehow related to the La Jolla harbor seals is an absurd claim with no basis in fact. Harbor seals were hunted almost to extinction along the California coast prior to the inception of the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1972, and therefore were largely missing from the nearshore ecosystem for a number of years. Sea lions were shot on sight by fishermen during those same years, reducing their population also. Various species of territorial sharks were heavily fished for their livers in a local fishery operating from the La Jolla Shores boat ramp in the 1930s and early 1940s, reducing our local shark population to near zero as well. With protection now afforded by California law to white sharks and by federal law to marine mammals, and with local habitat protection provided by the La Jolla Underwater Reserve, we are seeing a return of various top-of-the-food-chain species to their natural habitats. White sharks, infrequent but occasional visitors to our coast, are caught most frequently in the deep waters of the north branch of La Jolla Submarine Canyon. It is thought by knowledgeable shark researchers that female white sharks come to give birth to their young, not feeding while they are in Southern California waters. Young white sharks are strictly fish eaters. Harbor seals using the La Jolla rookery have been shown through scientific study to feed mostly offshore in the kelp beds and beyond. Because they defecate inshore and on the beach, these seals are actually enriching the nearshore/foreshore ecosystem by transporting nutrients from offshore to inshore waters, eventually (up the food chain) providing increased nutrients for the spiny lobsters we so dearly love to eat. For visitors and residents alike, the La Jolla harbor seal rookery is a major San Diego attraction, being the only mainland harbor seal rookery in Southern California and the only rookery where harbor seals have habituated to the close presence of humans. As such, this rookery is a significant educational opportunity and a special opportunity for us to provide adequate management of human behavior in the vicinity such that the seals do not suffer harassment. – James Hudnall, raised from childhood in La Jolla and charter member, Society for Marine Mammalogy No provisions to manage interactions NOAA biologist Sarah Wilkin’s statement in last week’s La Jolla Village News (3/11/10), regarding pinnipeds is typical of chronic negligence, ignorance and unawareness by NOAA officials on what is now a festering management issue regarding marine mammals in the U.S. Wilkin blatantly states: “There are plenty of beaches in the U.S. where pinnipeds haul out and there are no specific or special provisions about whether people can use the beach or not.” Well, this is the core of the problem — that NOAA has no specific or special provisions to manage human-pinniped interactions. What’s even more tragic is that Wilkin is totally unaware that this is a serious problem, and that thousands of marine mammals are paying the price of NOAA’s lack of management. Wilkin, who has recently replaced Joe Cordaro as head of NMFS’s Long Beach office, may be new to issues regarding the management of the harbor seal rookery in La Jolla, but as a marine mammal biologist, her unawareness that having “no specific or special provisions” is a serious problem is truly tragic. Germany, UK and other European countries introduced strict provisions in regulating human-marine mammal interactions on their shores, when human interference was deemed to be the main cause for hundreds of seal pup abandonments and deaths. New warning signs posted along designated coast lines, and regular patrols by wildlife patrols, were instrumental in reducing harm and harassment to seal colonies. When will NOAA implement similar provisions? It seems the first step is for NOAA to wake up and realize that having no provisions is a serious problem. The second step is to post adequate signs along designated pinniped haul-out sites and rookeries (birthing places). The third step is to implement a monitoring system, and to enforce the 1972 MMPA (Marine Mammal Protection Act). – Marjane Aalam, Senior Seal Watch coordinator Cliffside staircase a bad idea The proposed staircase at Calumet Park is a bad idea for several reasons. The problems of funding and overcrowding in an already over-utilized neighborhood have been mentioned by council members and the public. The stated objective is to provide access to tide pools, but there are no tide pools in the area (the beach is composed of smooth rocks in the golf ball to baseball size range). The nearest tide pools already have direct stairway access. The habitat is a feeding ground for shorebirds like egrets, specialized hunters that have very few places left on the coast to survive. Increased human and dog traffic (there is no reason to assume that dog owners will not continue to break the laws regarding dogs in beaches and parks) will destroy this fragile and precious ecological resource. The proposed stairway will destroy the natural beauty of the area. This effect will be especially noticeable from the beach and from the sea. (The existing stairway at the foot of Bird Rock Avenue destroyed a charming natural setting; from the beach or ocean it has the appearance of an ugly concrete bunker.) If you truly love nature, let it thrive. There are plenty of ways to access the area without despoiling it. – Dave Rearwin, La Jolla People just trample delicate marine habitat I just read the article in the Village News, “Resident proposes staircase at Calumet,” and I thought I would weigh in. I live near Calumet Avenue closer to the stairs at Linda Way.?On winter days when there is low tide, hundreds of people drive in to see the tide pools. Especially notable are the students walking from their cars with buckets to collect sea life and rocks. They trample all over the delicate marine habitat, disturbing the delicate ecosystem. After they drive away, we residents are left to clean up the snack wrappers, bottles, cans and debris from our front lawns.?Year round the stairs bring all kinds of people who feel free to go down to the beach to party “illegally,” since police and lifeguard access is limited. The Coastal Commission is presently not allowing oceanfront residents to shore up and protect their crumbling cliffs, so why would they allow the lovely natural cliff path to be cemented with stairs? In addition, you’re right, there is no money to fund this project. The city would be hard pressed to convince Bird Rock residents to commit to funds for a project that would make their neighborhood even more of a tourist destination.?If the goal is to get people to visit Bird Rock to help the businesses, I think a more practical solution would be to purchase property on La Jolla Boulevard for a parking structure similar to ones found in other beach towns along the coast. – Mari Mazzone, Bird Rock