The San Diego city council has voted unanimously to close access to Point La Jolla and Boomer Beach after complaints from residents and activists about sea lions.
“People will be prevented from actually going to the rocks at Point La Jolla and for Boomer’s Beach if your purpose is to actually go in the water to swim, to paddle … you will still be allowed to go in the water,” Joe LaCava, member city council representing La Jolla, told FOX 5 San Diego.
The area is famous for its population of sea lions, which choose rocks to breed and treat.
The move from seasonal to year-round closures is the first of its kind and was hailed by sea lion activists while some tourists told TV stations they were not thrilled with the indefinite closure.
Eleven days before the September 18 city council vote, the California Coastal Commission unanimously approved the city’s plan to close the rocky area between La Jolla Cove and Boomer Beach beaches to the public year-round to keep people and sea lions separate, La Jolla Light reports .
“Although tourists may want to bring their children for a [close-up] sightings and selfies with wild 800-pound sea lions, the Marine Mammal Protection Act recommends viewing from 50 feet,” a spokesperson for the Sierra Club Seal Society wrote to FOX 5. “Any disturbance of sea lions defined as changing their behavior includes looking at you or moving away or growling can be fined.”
The San Diego city council has voted unanimously to close access to Point La Jolla and Boomer Beach.Getty Images/iStockphoto
In July, a video shared by Instagram user @whoisjaphet showed two sea lions taking over the beach amid the summer crowds at rocky La Jolla Cove.
Beachgoers ran after him after a sea lion was seen attacking people on the beach.
“Please give the male sea lion plenty of space,” a rescuer can be heard saying over a loudspeaker in the video. “They have bitten people, and they are protected animals.”
This area is famous for its population of sea lions, which choose rocks to breed and treat. Sipa USA via AP
There are no plans to close La Jolla Cove beach to divers, swimmers, surfers and beachgoers because of the “critical section [recreation] for people who live in the area, for visitors to the area,” LaCava told FOX 5.
The restrictions will be in place for seven years, when the city will need to apply for another amendment or a new beach development permit, according to the La Jolla Light.
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