Access group’s suggestions for La Jolla Cove get mixed reactions at S.D. meeting

After months of work and looking for direction to move forward, the La Jolla Cove Access Working Group met with San Diego City Council President Joe LaCava to discuss its five-point plan for handling interactions between humans and sea lions at The Cove. 

“The overall purpose of the meeting was to present the five points and talk about them and get the city’s take on what’s feasible and what’s not,” said group member Chas. Dye. “We’re not trying to persuade them one way or the other, but we wanted to get their feedback.” 

During the July 30 meeting, group members presented the five proposed solutions they had been drafting for almost a year:

• Improved signs

• A script in various languages to give to tour buses explaining how people can view the sea lions safely

• A clearly marked area for pinniped viewing

• Rangers authorized to issue fines and/or place cones or tape as a visual deterrent

• A system designed to keep sea lions away, such as an acoustic device that emits low-frequency sounds to discourage them from going on land

Those steps would be in addition to education efforts by volunteer docents who patrol the area for the Sierra Club Seal Society.

While the sign proposal was seen as “reasonable,” Dye said, the others were seen as more difficult.

According to Dye and members of LaCava’s staff, LaCava noted that past attempts to move animals from the beach had been unsuccessful or deemed infeasible.

He added that it would be difficult to keep people in a designated viewing area if they see others on the beach.

As for the idea to provide a script to tour buses, LaCava said there are no regulations on tour buses except regarding parking and idling and that the group would need to work with the San Diego Tourism Authority on the proposal.

Lastly, LaCava said there are ongoing efforts to increase ranger presence in the area, but having rangers place cones or ropes on the beach to separate people from sea lions could be difficult because “somebody would probably need to keep moving them as the animals move from place to place,” Dye said.

Currently, rangers are present at nearby Point La Jolla, where sea lions haul out and there is a year-round public closure. But public access to The Cove remains unrestricted, and with few city regulations in place there, rangers have less ability to cite people who don’t stay away from the pinnipeds.

LaCava told the La Jolla Light that “my conversation with the La Jolla Cove working group was productive and dovetails with the city’s efforts. I look forward to better management as we work together to ensure The Cove remains open to all.” 

From here, Dye said, the working group will take the feedback and look at how to implement its ideas. That includes talking to the California Coastal Commission, members of the community and other interested parties. He said the community outreach likely would be done at regular local review board meetings rather than scheduling a special meeting. 

“We appear to have some low-hanging fruit as fairly quick things we could get done,” Dye said. “Other things may be difficult, but they are not insurmountable.”

He said his perception of the meeting was that city staff members “expressed interest in wanting to pursue some of the plan.” 

La Jolla’s longtime conflict between beach access rights for people and protections for marine animals against human misconduct has led not only to the year-round closure of Point La Jolla but also the five-month annual public closure of the Children’s Pool, which is home to harbor seals.

Some La Jollans worry that similar restrictions could be put in place at The Cove.

The working group was formed last September under the auspices of the La Jolla Parks & Beaches board and includes representatives of the city and the La Jolla Town Council, Village Merchants Association, Community Planning Association and Parks & Beaches, as well as the local swimming, diving and scientific communities.

The intent was to come up with a collaborative proposal, with the support of as many interested parties as possible, to present the city “a balanced, year-round access solution … preserving recreational access to The Cove while coexisting with the local pinniped population,” according to the group’s charter.

The next meeting of the La Jolla Cove Access Working Group has not yet been scheduled.