La Jolla & San Diego: Ellen Browning Scripps Would Want the Seals To Stay!

Judge Yuri Hofmann is an idiot as far as I can tell. Read a bit below and tell me if you think his decision makes sense?

I lived my first few years in California in La Jolla, walking distance from the beach called "The Children's Pool" which has at least for 15 years or so, been a place that seals naturally come with their young. It is a pretty magical experience to gaze upon them resting and frolicking in the ocean. Presently there are about 200 who live there. The seals do draw tourists to the area--and I am sure this adds to extra income for the city.

This beach was left 75 years ago by Ellen Browning Scripps as one of her many gifts to benefit the public as a safe place for children to swim. However, having lived for sometime in that area, I can tell you that it is NOT an ideal spot for young children to swim. While the beach is sandy and the waves are small in this location, there are rocks and reef which are completely not so kiddie friendly as compared to the completely sandy-bottomed beach of La Jolla shores just down the way.

If you have no emotion about the matter, looking at this logically. The estimated cost to get rid of the seals is around $700,000 a year AND this is coupled with the idea that one route to remove them is to play sounds of dogs barking from 6AM to dusk for possibly YEARS. This is not just about being cruel to the animals, but also to the citizens of the community.

I think if Ellen were alive today, in her philanthropic spirit, she would see the Children's Pool as it currently is as a rare opportunity for many families (without the income to spend at Sea World) to enjoy the the close proximity and charm of these marine mammals in a beautiful environment.

In this day and age, with all the issues of the economy and good people losing their jobs, homes and health insurance, it is incredible to think that people have so much time on their hands as to push something like this forward. It is embarrassing..... How much money has already been wasted in the court system?

Lastly, in the further argument of logic, we know that the seals, if banished from this beach, will just likely band together and try to make a home on another nearby beach enjoyed by humans.....

If you feel you are in favor of keeping seals in a place they have called home for some time, please go to this site, where you can find more information and send an email to the City Council in their favor. www.savesandiegoseals.com/

From the San Diego Union Tribune: San Diego plans to broadcast the sound of barking dogs from 6 a.m. until dark every day for possibly years to disperse a seal colony at Children's Pool beach in La Jolla, city officials said in a proposal released yesterday.

If the city's initial tactic fails – which is likely because seals can adjust to distractions – San Diego would add other types of sounds and start spraying the marine mammals with water. City officials said the water would be shot from “a hand-held or stationary device.”

A San Diego employee or a contractor would do the dispersal work, which San Diego said has been tried successfully in other places and meets federal regulations. The city's Police Department would provide security to protect that person from potential public harassment.

The estimated cost is $688,934 for a year, city officials said.

That price tag doesn't include the expense of paying law enforcement authorities to maintain traffic flow around the popular beach and maintain peace between people wanting to push out the seals and those hoping to maintain the colony.