Will Seals Be Evicted From La Jolla's Children's Pool?

SAN DIEGO -- A La Jolla town council committee will meet Monday to discuss a renewed battle over the seals that have taken up residence at the Children's Pool, 10News reported.

San Diego City Councilman Scott Peters, along with some frustrated La Jolla residents, want to see the seal-occupied beach reclaimed for swimming, but removing the seals will be a challenge.

SURVEY Who should get to use the Children's Pool in La Jolla? The children because it was orginally made for kids. The seals because they rest and breed there. Both the children and seals should share the beach. Results  |  Disclaimer

Federal authorities say any device, such as acoustic deterrents or a net cordoning off the beach area, would violate the Marine Mammal Protection Act. So would relocating the seals.

Any intentional harassment that changes the seals' behavior, such as causing them to raise their heads, is against the law, said Joseph Cordaro, a wildlife biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service.

"There is no way right now to change it back to public use unless the seals are attracted away from the beach," Cordaro told The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Peters recently promised to find a way to keep a campaign pledge he made two years ago to clean up the Children's Pool and make it fit for swimming again.

Peters plans to raise the issue with the San Diego City Council in early April, when the council is scheduled to consider the separate issue of adopting conditions set by the California Coastal Commission to maintain the seal reserve.

The reserve is established around the Seal Rock next to the Children's Pool.

The Children's Pool beach and Seal Rock are home to about 200 seals, which rest and breed there.

The Children's Pool has been closed since 1997 because of fecal contamination by the seals.