Background and Controversy - Latest Casa Beach News

February 3, 2012
Deal May Start 5-month Beach Closure for Seals
by Mike Lee, U-T
The La Jolla Friends of the Seals recent lawsuit brought this to light. The papers filed by us in the Superior Court stated that the city council's 2010 resolution that would prevent public access during pupping season at Children's Pool still needs to be funded. A proposal for funding will go to the City Council this March. The costs include fees for the appropriate reviews and permits required. It's estimated to cost between $25,000 to $50,000 - mostly internal tracking of staff time rather than actual outgo from the city.

Bryan Pease, our lawyer, said "The process is taking a lot longer that it's supposed to, but at least it's back under way as opposed to just being permanently stalled".

How you can help:
Please call your City Council person, urging them to vote for this proposal to allocate the funds necessary to pay for processing the reviews and permits that would permit the Children's Pool closure during pupping season from Dec. 15th to May 15th each year.

Remind them that the seal mothers and pups need a safe and secure place for that important time. The dialogue to be something like: "Hello Council Member _________.

"The San Diego City Council will vote in March to approve funding to close the Children's Pool beach during the pupping season. I urge you to vote for this item in the revised budget. San Diego's  harbor seals pupping season is between December 15 to  May 15. It is vital that the seals have protection from humans intrusion to give mothers and pups a safe and secure place to bring up their young during these crucial months. A closed beach would provide this. "

And please come down to see this wonderful event that is happening right now. We have two pups so far....and we are expecting many more.

District 1 - Sherri Lightner -619-236-6611

District 2 - Kevin Faulconer - 619-236-6622

District 3 - Todd Gloria - 619-236-6633

District 4 - Anthony Young - 619-236-6644

District 5 - Carl DeMaio - 619-236-6655

District 6 - Lorie Zapf - 619-236-6616

District 7 - Marti Emerald - 236-6677

District 8 - David Alvarez - 236-6688

Thanks for your help everybody.

January 6, 2012
Lawsuit Filed
Bryan Pease, APRL attorney and seal advocate filed a lawsuit with LJFS as co-plaintiff against the City of San Diego and Mayor Sanders to keep pressure on the mayor's office to take action on the city council's beach closure during pupping season resolution passed in May 2010, which he signed, but then failed to provide funding for in his budget. This despite the council resolution approving the cost of up to $50K to obtain permits. The estimated cost is internal between city departments for staff time - people who are on salary anyway! There is no outside cost really. Yet, the mayor was able to find $70K to hire the Ranger that Councilperson from La Jolla  Sherri Lightner wanted. The San Diego Foundation's 2011 Report indicated her desire for a Ranger is to "protect beach access"!! This in the face of the constant disruption of the seal rookery during the latter months of pregnancy and through the weaning season.

We should keep demanding beach closure from National Marine Fishing Service on the basis that only the federal gov't. can cut through the red tape to support what the local gov't. already voted for. Let Monica.DeAngelis@Noaa.gov know you support this.

The goal of the lawsuit would be to require the mayor to do his job and implement the resolution passed by the City council that he signed. I think this lawsuit can really crystallize for the public what's going on here though, which is that a resolution was passed and then ignored.

“Ethics is knowing the difference between knowing what you have the right to do and what is right to do.” Former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart

December 19, 2011
Escalation of Conflict between Opposing Groups at Children's Pool
Bitterness and accelerated antagonism has escalated at Children's Pool in La Jolla ever since the city erected a rope across the beach for pupping season on December 15th. One group, La Jolla Friends of the Seals and the Animal Protraction and Rescue League asks visitors to stay on the dry side to allow the distance needed for the seals to have freedom of movement around the better portion of the beach. The dissidents, composed mainly of a few spearfishermen, divers and those people afraid of losing full access to the beach, held a large BBQ/party on the wet side of the rope last Saturday to display their objections.

The rope is understood to be a guideline to respect the late pregnancy female seals need for space and has never closed off the beach. The divers have persuaded the City to shorten the length of the rope barrier, thus opening up more easy access to full beach use advocates and unaware visitors. There have already been three early pup deaths this year, probably due to the stress of the resulting frequent harassment and excessive proximity of too many people all during the day and night.

Please Help!

1. Go to "Save La Jolla Seals" Facebook page and look at the most recent posts from the past few days.
2. Call City Attorney Jan Goldsmith at 619-236-6220; Mayor Jerry Sanders at 619-236-6330 or City Council President Tony Young at 619-236-6440. Tell them that the pregnant seals are in jeopardy this pupping season and to close the beach as an emergency measure.

To summarize what you will see there, the situation at the beach is dire!

If you go to the beach and see any evidence of anyone disturbing a seal, (flushing, getting too close, allowing children to frighten them, excessive photos using a flash, throwing things at them, etc.) please write a letter telling of the failure of the city's "shared use" policy to the editor of the Union Tribune Letters@uniontrib.com or one of the La Jolla papers; SDeMaggio@lajollalight.com or LJVN@sdnews.com.
Suggest that closing the beach at night would be a fair solution if people continue to insist on their right (forget their responsibility) to use the beach during this vulnerable time of the pupping season.

December 15, 2011
Rope Barrier Goes Up for Pupping Season
Bryan Peace, our long standing pro bono lawyer called a Press Conference on the first day of the erection of the rope barrier at Children's Pool, December 15th. The press turned out in full force, with cameras whirring from Channels 5, 6, 8, 10, 15 and the La Jolla Light. Bryan discussed the political "hot potato" the issue of the rope has been. He asked people to stay behind the rope line to give the seals some protection from the public during this late term pregnancy period and through the birth of the last viable pups, and for a month afterward to give the mothers and pups time to nurse, bond and wean after a short six weeks.

Brian confirmed that the City Council had voted in May of 2010 to close the beach during pupping season, but that the follow through had stalled due to red tape and a lack of funding in the city coffers. Development Services has estimated that the closure permits and staff time would be an estimated $25,000 to $50,000., which has not been funded. When the pupping season ends, the rope is liable to be removed unless the California Coastal Commission hearing, scheduled for early March, authorizes the year round rope as approved by the City Council at the same time as the pupping season rope. It was a beautiful day and the sight of an empty beach with about 30 seals sleeping peacefully was a memorable sight.

More Pictures HERE

November 7, 2011
Shark Education - Let's Educate Ourselves

1. We have lots of sharks in San Diego, MOST of them do not eat Red Meat, they eat fish. Leopard sharks, that habit the cove and can be over 6 feet, have a mouth like a catfish, no real teeth to "bite" with, they suck food off the bottom. They make look scary but they are not going to eat you.
2. Sharks are mostly prey specific, they don't just eat anything unless they are starving.
3. Great White sharks do not begin to eat mammals until they are almost mature, at 12-13 years of age, and about 12-13 feet long. We have immature Great Whites in the waters off of So Cal, they eat fish. Again they look scary, but they eat fish.
4. Great Whites are ambush predators, they attack from depth, from below, they do not cruise around at the surface.
5. Dolphins breath air, they have to surface regularly, they are big 6-10 feet, have a large fin, and we have lots of them in San Diego, I see them almost every time I'm surfing.
6. Great Whites eat Tuna, other large fish and marine mammals, It does not make sense to attempt to make the ocean "safe" by removing these food sources.
7. Anyone can say they "Saw something" I'm a diver and surfer and have never seen any great white shark anywhere in the water. I've seen lots of dolphins, seals, rays, small sharks. I'm more surprised at the media for jumping on this "cry wolf" story, no one has been able to verify any of the sightings, so we are not sure they are accurate.

June 3, 2011
Children's Pool Rope Barrier Can Come Down
By Nathan Max, Union Tribune.(with slight editing by Ellen Shively)
San Diego County Superior Court Judge Lisa Foster ordered the disputed rope barrier at Children’s Pool beach to be removed this weekend

The issue of whether to keep the rope up year-round, instead of just during the seals’ pupping months, will come back to court on July 15. However, Foster suggested that APRL which is suing the city, has an uphill battle in proving that the city’s Planning Commission overstepped its authority by denying a coastal development permit in December.

“The court’s job is to determine whether there’s been an abuse of discretion,” Foster said. “In this case, based on my preliminary view, there is evidence that would support the Planning Commission’s finding.”

Her ruling is the latest chapter in a long-running fight between environmentalists and animal-rights activists who want to protect the seals and those seeking greater access to the beach.

At the end of Friday’s 75-minute hearing, Foster said she based her ruling on what she believes has been the status quo at Children’s Pool — that no rope barrier is maintained during the non-pupping season.

The rope was to be in place December 15 through May 15.

“The court cannot make a finding that there will be irreparable harm in this case to the seals,” Foster said. “The entire history of the seals at the Children’s Pool is that  there hasn’t been a rope, and the seals seem to be OK.”

San Diego uses the rope to help safeguard nursing seals, who can become skittish when disturbed and abandon their pups. The city’s Planning Commission had decided that a request by various seal supporters for the rope to stay up permanently didn’t meet specific requirements for issuing a coastal development permit.

The commission’s decision came after the City Council asked the mayor last year to have the rope remain year-round. The mayor sent the request through the standard permit process, which involved the commission when a Hearing Officer approved the year round placement.

Dorota Valli, campaign manager for SealWatch San Diego, said she has little hope there will be a positive outcome for her side next month.

“Of course it’s very disappointing, because to the general public it is obvious that the Planning Commission abused its discretion by denying the ruling made by the elected officials,” she said.

Pro-access advocate Justin Schlaefli, a diver who edits a newsletter for a spearfishing club, said he was thrilled with Foster’s decision.

“We feel the rope is a legitimate impediment to access at the beach,” Schlaefli said.

During Friday’s hearing, Foster peppered pro-seal attorney Bryan Pease with questions. Pease tried to show that the Planning Commission went against the city’s intent by denying the permit, but to no avail.

“If that was the case, I would expect the council to be part of this litigation,” Foster said. “And they’re not.”

Pease went on to argue that people fighting to remove the rope frequently ignore it, so their contention that it’s an obstruction to beachgoers is a red herring.

“They want thousands of people on the beach so the seals will disperse,” he said.

Councilwoman Sherri Lightner, who represents La Jolla, said she supports the judge’s ruling and is in favor of the rope being removed when the seals are not nursing.

“During the summertime, typically the seals spend a lot more time in the water,” Lightner said. “It’s important to allow people access to the pool at that time.”

Children’s Pool was set aside in 1931 as a place for people to practice swimming in the ocean. The cove is popular with seals and their pups because it’s protected from big waves and sits close to some rich feeding areas. It is also a tourist attraction.

It is legal for people to cross the guide rope that the city lays out during pupping season, but it is against federal law to harass the seals. What exactly constitutes harassment, and at what proximity beachgoers should get to the seals, continues to be in dispute.

During the first three months of 2011, there were more than double the amount of calls to police at the cove compared with the year-earlier period, as beach-use advocates held regular gatherings on the sand steps away from the nursing seals.

During the past five years, the dispute has been fought at City Hall, the Legislature and in both federal and state courtrooms. It will continue next month. nathan.max@uniontrib.com • (619) 718-5252 • Twitter: @natemax

May 15, 2011
Update on the La Jolla seal hearing. On Friday, May 13th we won a small victory when Judge Lisa Foster issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) to keep the rope guideline up until June 3rd. The next hearing date will be June 3rd and she should be making a decision then whether or not the rope will be kept in place all year long. During the hearing she expressed some exasperation for not being provided with the specific municipal code that guided the Planning Commission in their decision for not allowing the rope. It's the attorney's responsibility to provide the court with this pertinent information and they failed to do so for a second time.

This was interesting because the flustered attorneys said they "had pieces of it" but not the complete municipal code. They didn't even offer the "pieces" they said they have. This makes me wonder if any such code even exists. Could the Planning Commission have acted irresponsibly by making their decision to over rule the City Council's resolution without any legal guidelines???!!

The City attorney also tried to argue against the judge's decision to keep the rope up until June 3rd  but Bryan (APRL) countered this by telling her that NOAA has stated that pupping season doesn't end until May 30th. She accepted this and said this was part of her reason for the TRO.

Seal supporters (about 12-13) filled most of the small courtroom while the anti-seal side showed up with only 3. In anticipation of the rope coming down, the anti-seal groups were planning a "Beach Clean-up Day" for Sunday, May 15th. We talked about this afterwards and some people said they were going to call NOAA / NMFS to alert them.

APRL/SealWatch, Friends of the La Jolla Seals, Sea Shepherd, Pacific Marine Mammal Center (PMMC) Volunteers, Orange County People for Animals (OCPA) and other pro-seal activists were all in attendance and it was great to see this and it couldn't have gone unnoticed by the judge and other observers.

Even though some good things happened during this hearing the final outcome is still uncertain. Come to the hearing if you can on June 3rd. It's in Judge Lisa Foster's courtroom, Dept. 60, 333 W. Broadway downtown.

THANK YOU Bryan for all your hard work on this and much more!!!

December 10, 2010
San Diego Planning Commission denied permanent rope line at Casa Beach. The year-round rope line was approved by City Council as a management tool, but this decision was appealed by the La Jolla Community Planning Association.