San Diego’s seal saga may be nearing a resolution. The city council will hold a special meeting tonight to consider whether a shared use policy for Children’s Pool in La Jolla is the way to go.
The shared use policy would ban people from the beach during the seal pupping season. It would also require a rope barrier be in place year-round to discourage people from getting too close to the animals, and would ban dogs from the beach.
Councilmember Sherri Lightner said an anonymous donor has provided nearly $80,000 to pay for a park ranger to patrol the beach for a year. She said the ranger would provide a higher level of protection for humans and seals. She said it’s typically conflicts between people that cause trouble, not conflicts between seals and humans.
“With a ranger on site to explain the boundaries and limits of how you can access the water and what seals are about, it will, we believe, do away with the people on people issue here,” she said.
Lightner said an endowment could be set up to fund the ranger position past the first year.
The council will meet at 6 p.m. at the Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla to consider the issue.
