POINT 9.....Our City politicians have presented this latest beach closure plan as the next step in a series without revealing the obvious next steps.  Beach closure for the convenience of local government will expand in San Diego and elsewhere unless a CCC ruling ends it now. Seal colonization is expanding to other public beaches.

a) After a lawsuit was filed to correct this situation, the City dug its heels in while refusing to address the problem of its own making. Management proposals came from community groups, lifeguards and dedicated users of the beach without the City taking any of the solutions offered seriously. Some well-known proposals were dismissed as never having been known to the City Staff assigned to address the problem. The City took the path of least resistance and simply wants the beach closed once and for all without regard for the consequences.

b) The history of San Diego City government action at Children’s Pool points to only one final result from the mis-management the beach-going community has suffered from. Time after time, the City had the opportunity to correct the pollution and human conflicts that have been tolerated over a decade.

c) Although the current proposal calls only for beach closure during the winter, clearly this demand will expand to a year round closure using the same unsubstantiated claims of harm to the animals.    Harbor Seals are year round residents of the La Jolla coast and they are here to stay. Managing the beaches of San Diego cannot employ the shortcuts of closure the City is demanding.

d) The seals have happily returned to the Children’s Pool Beach year after year and became more and more habituated to the urban environment they chose to inhabit with humans. Every year a record number of seal pups are born on Children’s Pool Beach and the surrounding beaches at South Casa Beach and Shell Beach. Wipeout Beach, a rough and exposed beach subject to constant wave action, has been the site of Harbor Seal pups being born. 

e) The population of seals is thriving and will result in further colonization and closure attempts for the beaches surrounding Children’s Pool. The City appears to be prepared to spend an unlimited amount of taxpayer money to close Children’s Pool. Why would anyone think the City can stop with one beach as other beaches become colonized by Harbor Seals.