Drownings at Pool  In today’s Village News (Sept. 3, page 5), letter writer  Patricia Weber mentioned the drownings of two children many years ago, and of two others more recently. I know nothing about any earlier drownings of children, but I very definitely recall the two adults who were swept off the wall by high waves during a storm. My recollection is that it occurred on New Year’s Eve, possibly 15 or 20 years ago.  Apparently, a young couple had gone out on the seawall to see the high surf, and were unable to scramble to safety when a huge wave struck and caused their deaths. There was a great deal of news coverage of the incident at the time. Chuck Patrick, La Jolla Remove the gates, install a weir  Ms. Weber’s letter (“Seals: a new twist,” Sept. 3, page 5) contained a number of factual errors, some of which were addressed by the Village News: the deaths of children related to the sluice gates and being washed off the breakwater could not be verified.  Ms. Weber’s description of the breakwater sluice gates as ‘two vents that allowed the waves to flush the beach clean” was also in error. Contract documents for the Children’s Pool breakwater specified four 4-foot wide by 6-foot high sluice gates to be installed at an elevation of –5.05 feet mean sea level. One solution to the flushing problem has always been to open the sluice gates. But the majority of sand in the pool would eventually disappear onto the adjoining pocket beaches to the south, leaving the pool again essentially devoid of sand. The water would be clean but there would be no beach for kids to enjoy. To address this problem, the slice gates need to be removed and discarded. A concrete weir (“lip’’) needs to be constructed in the resulting void at an elevation which would capture and maintain sand in back of the weir. Tide and wave action should build up a sandy beach along the bluffs sloping towards the breakwater. This beach would allow kids to wade in shallow water and be protected from ocean waves. All of the concrete overlying the sluice gates should also be removed. The resulting gap in the breakwater could be bridged with a walkway. Or the breakwater could be declared off limits and access denied. Removing the sluice gates, the overlying concrete, and installing a weir at an appropriate elevation would negate the need for artificial sand removal. Tide and wave action would remove the sand and redistribute it to the adjoining pocket beaches. The breakwater would still protect the adjoining bluffs, a linear beach would replace the existing beach, the sand and water would be cleansed by natural tide and wave action, beach access could be guaranteed to all and, if desired, a workable joint use policy could be implemented by the city.  Ms. Weber asks the rhetorical question, “Is there any other place in the world where humans can swim with seals?” The short answer is, yes. There are even places in California where this occurs. But it is swim at your own risk.  Shark attacks often occur in and around seal haul-out sites, including San Diego County. David W. Valentine, Ph.D.. retired marine scientist, 41 year La Jolla resident What about sharks? In response to a letter written by Patricia Weber (“Seals: a new twist,” Village News, Sept. 3, page 5): She started her letter with “the enemies of the seals are trying to chase them away.” I believe the enemies of the seals are the sharks and they will show up as they do at all seal haul-outs. I can’t imagine anyone could be an enemy of any animal. She went on to say the pool was created for swimming lessons, no; it was created for a safe place to swim in the ocean, with no waves, as there was no such place in the village. Ellen Scripps was quoted as saying the creation of a breakwater would ultimately benefit all visitors to La Jolla’s beaches. Miss Weber went on to say now we have hundreds of swimming pools — any lifeguard will tell you how many great pool swimmers they have had to save in the ocean, completely different things. She said Ellen Scripps’ foreman managed the project; no it was managed by one of the most famous hydraulic engineers in the world, Hiram Savage. She then states there were two vents in the wall, no, there are four sluiceways in the wall. She goes on to say that two children were sucked through the openings by the backwash and drowned, wow! Now that is a good story, no, the facts are the sluiceways were closed before the pool ever opened to the public due to the loss of too much sand. Today we have the opposite effect; we have a hill of sand and not enough water. The ocean used to come up much closer to the walk down stairs. At the end of this letter she says the decision to remove the seals is selfish, ill-advised, made by politically motivated individuals. The reality is that this was a gift to the state of California, a manmade pool with the purpose to be for swimming, children and diving and fishing. Diving as we know it in California began at the Children’s Pool. What is selfish and ill-advised is to place a colony of seals (mostly dumped from SeaWorld) in a manmade pool next to one of the most used swimming beaches in San Diego, as the lifeguards say, “If you don’t want to be eaten by a shark don’t swim by seals.” To have hateful people yell at innocent people through megaphones to get off the beach, it is our continual right to go on the beach, and to have clean water and to have people collect thousands of dollars daily to aid their own agenda at the cost of our community. Two- to 3,000 people come a day there is no parking lot for this venue, therfore people who come to go to beaches or parks have no place to park. I have followed the visitors for eight years and they do very little for the economy of La Jolla. That is selfish, ill-advised, politically motivated individuals. Melinda Merryweather, La Jolla Where was justice? It saddens me, no; it terrifies me to realize that I live amidst such heartless and merciless citizens. We have seriously outdone ourselves this time. I am not a writer, biologist or even an activist. I am a law abiding, taxpaying citizen who works hard and tries to live a moral life.  I was in my English class last night when a fellow student mentioned that there were $600,000 speakers set up at Seal Beach, La Jolla with sounds of barking dogs in order to scare off the seals. Aware of the battle going on, I never really thought that the opposition would be favored and the seals left to float homeless in the waters. After I arrived at work this morning, an overwhelming sadness overcame me when I thought about what was going on at the beach right at this moment. I still have tears in my eyes as I write this.   Who gave us the right to decide where nature, where other living creatures, that share this planet with us, can and cannot live? How selfish and arrogant have we become? Humanity has consumed the entire coast and inward land…does one single insignificant, bacteria infested, little piece of sand really make that much more of a difference? You claim your fight is so that your children may have the opportunity to play in these waters. Is that really what motivates your sickening campaign? Have we asked the children what they want? Do you even really care what your children want?  So many homes and communities nowadays have swimming pools, not to mention that there is this rather large length of coast with an abundance of beaches readily available and each more beautiful than the last. We even have beaches for our dogs! I cannot begin to conjure the words that my conscience, soul and heart want to tell you.  I would like to shake the hand of whoever had the audacity to propose this preposterous “solution.” This has to be one of the greatest examples of how blinded by greed and selfishness we can be. What is even more outrageous is that something as ridiculous as this can be approved in our court of law. This is the same court of law that has the power put you in prison for crimes, the same court of law that we go to when something unjust is done to us. Where was justice this time? Not on the side of the seals. Forget about the seals, you should go straight to Congress and the President of the United States and propose this same plan for ending the War in Iraq. This ingenious plan can be used large scale…global. Why didn’t we think of this many years ago? Al Qaeda and the rest of the terrorists would have surrendered and laid down their arms if we just would have played some Celine Dion and Barney and Friends tunes for them, over exceptionally large speakers.  You, my fellow citizens who support this, are truly despicable people. Neighbors of the seals must really be thrilled by the melody of the barking dogs from dawn until dusk.  As a homeowner, I’m sure this is something that you would love to simultaneously occur as you are showing your home to potential buyers. “Don’t mind the barking, we are just trying to scare off innocent wildlife.” Tourists have finally received confirmation that we Californians are truly out in left field.  Who needs the seals anyways? You can always go to SeaWorld if you want to look at them, right? If only that could be said for human beings…who needs children? Go to an orphanage if you want to see them! It does not sound as appealing anymore. That is ultimately what will happen to the seals, they will not have a home. They could be potentially separated from their families. They could die.  Please, my fellow citizens, do not let this deter your mission to run them out. Do not let this hinder your mission to play ridiculously loud sounds of barking dogs in a beautiful community. Do not let this keep you up at night, while you sleep in your luxurious home with a swimming pool, overlooking the ocean. Just know that as you kiss your children goodnight and lay your head down to rest that there are seals aimlessly floating in the water wishing for the same comfort…a home.  Tina M. Valle, San Diego