What do you know about harbor seals at Children’s Pool – take the quiz.
(from http://www.friendsofthechildrenspool.com/harbor_seal_quiz.htm )
1. What kind of seals are we looking at?
At Children’s, you will see Eastern Pacific Harbor Seals. (Phoca vitulina richardsi) They range from Baja to Alaska. http://www.pinnipeds.org/species/harbour.htm If you get lucky you might see a sea lion. Really, really, lucky would be to see an elephant seal. People just say, “seal” around here, but could mean harbor seals or sea lions or both. Northern California has both, and also has elephant seals, northern fur seals, stellar sea lions and Guadalupe fur seals.
2. Are harbor seals and sea lions endangered?
They are protected, but not endangered, not ESA (Endangered Species Act) listed, nor depleted under MMPA (Marine Mammal Protection Act). They were hunted commercially until 1938, and fishermen were allowed to kill them if they interfered with fishing operations until 1994 when the MMPA gave them complete protection in the water.
3. If not endangered, are harbor seals still rare then?
Annual surveys are made, and DFG as of 1995 estimated there were 23,000 harbor seals in California. Ten years later, the NOAA 2005 census estimated over 34,000. The Seal Conservation Society at http://www.pinnipeds.org/species/harbour.htm 3rd paragraph, quotes 285,000 of our “eastern pacific” harbor seals from Alaska to Baja. This is one of the more remarkable species recovery stories.
4. If I go down on the beach, is that breaking the law?
Children’s Pool is a public beach. Anyone can swim, dive, spearfish, etc. To “harass” the seals is against a federal law. From Marine Mammal Protection Act: 1994 amendments: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/glossary.htm#harass See level b harassment. Confused? Going toward a seal with intent to mess with it is illegal, unless the seal ignores you. Going onto the beach or in the water without disturbing them is legal. Since 2004 there have been 2 citations issued, one settled no contest, the other dismissed. There are no City or State Laws.
5. Are there people who hate seals and want to hurt them?
There are some commercial fishermen, sport fishing operations or fishnetters who feel they are overprotected. They find seals to be relentless thieves (well,..yeah) who endanger their livelihood http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/06.20.96/cover/seals-9625.html They can legally use ‘seal bombs’ (big firecrackers), to make seals go away for a while. http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Marine-Mammals/Seals-and-Sea-Lions/Deterring-Pinnipeds.cfm
6. Do divers scare seals underwater?
Though seals avoid people on land, they have never been afraid of divers in water, finding them amusingly slow and clumsy. Divers love seals, enjoy their antics and certainly wish them no harm. Every experienced diver has a story about a seal playing with him. http://www.abyss.com.au/productcart/pc/Scuba-Dive-with-Seal-overnight-Trip-68p2615.htm "Seals are one of the most fascinating creatures you can ever dive with. All they want to do is play with you, and if you don't want to play with them then they will find someone or something else to play with."
The Federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is responsible for marine mammal protection, census and studies. They are the last word. http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/protectedresources/mmv/guide.htm
8. If Children’s pool is disturbed, where will the seals go? How will they pup?
They will go to Seal Rock, the offshore islands, small isolated beaches hidden in sea cliffs off Point Loma and Pendelton, etc. Where wild seals go. Many will come back to visit “when the coast is clear” Webpage from former La Jolla City Councilman Peterson
“Harbor seals utilize specific shoreline locations on a regular basis as resting places called haulouts. Sites for haul-outs include beaches, rocks, log booms and floats. Some haulouts are used regularly, year around, while others may be used seasonally or intermittently.” http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Marine-Mammals/upload/sealpups.pdf
9. What should I do if I see a distressed seal or abandoned pup?
Get back. NOAA can be hard on people who “help” seals. A pup can be waiting for mom to come back with breakfast. http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ole/news/news_SWD_052406.htm Let someone know who can notify NOAA after 48 hours have gone by to be sure Mom had every chance to return. If injury is obvious, call Marine Mammal Rescue Center at (707)465-6265.
10. What should I do if I see someone harass a seal?
There is a hotline to NOAA 800-853-1964, however, there have been so many unwarranted calls from La Jolla that NOAA has notified San Diego that it does not have the resources to immediately respond to complaints, and the City should handle Children’s. (Not a legally binding request) There used to be 2 closed circuit cameras at Children’s connect to video recorders 24/7, so NOAA could follow up on valid violations of MMPA, of which there were very few. NOAA has not issued a citation at Children's Pool in 5 years.
11. How can I not bother seals if I am on the beach?
Look like you are minding your own business. Do everything at the same slow pace. Do not stare – eye contact is threatening to a wild animal. Keep your arms at your side, do not set a "collision course". Keep a grip on kids. In the water, seals know you are a pathetic swimmer and no threat.
12. Harbor seals live near where they were born?
Some do. Adult harbor seals do tend to remain within an easy swim (25 miles) of favored hauling sites. Pups are weaned in about 5 weeks and their mothers have no further interest in them. Juveniles may then disburse 100 miles or more to seek their fortunes. A radio tag study. Herder, 1982, Humbolt State University, called a 25 km range “site fidelity”, but it is seasonal, with some long excursions. (25 km from La Jolla is Encinitas to the north, Coronado Island to the south) In season, males will return to any hauling-pupping sites they remember, because that’s where the girls are, and after weaning comes mating season. Seals from San Francisco have been seen in Children’s Pool.
13. Is Children’s Pool the only seal rookery in Southern California?
The term rookery is derived from bird breeding places where a yearly migration back to a specific spot occurs, as with penguins or rooks (a small crow). Harbor seals do not migrate annually back to specific breeding grounds, so it is not an applicable term, http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/sars/po2005sehr-ca.pdf (1st paragraph), but the word is used anyway. It has no legal meaning. NOAA takes it to mean a haulout where male, female and young seals are seen together. Children’s Pool is just the only “rookery” around here where tourists observe with no effort. Another tourist-viewable is in Carpenteria. One can view seals from the sidewalk at Seal Rock too or from the Point Loma sewage plant road (by permission). Wild seals prefer inaccessible places, but if one seal is getting away with sitting on a beach, others will follow, just as we will do something seemingly risky if somebody else goes first.
14. So how many rookeries, pupping sites, whatever, are in California?
From (http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/sars/po2005sehr-ca.pdf 2nd page), the 2005 census showed 5,900 more seals than 2004 (roughly). They had to come from somewhere. From page 1 of the same document, NOAA can estimate 600 haulout sites in California. Another scientist says 1200+. http://www.friendsofthechildrenspool.com/city_san_diego_seals/cpoolfaq.shtml The haulout sites can be different than pupping sites. Harbor seals to not even need to have a “haulout” site to sleep, breed, pup, or nurse – they can do all that in the water, but they prefer a flat spot for birthing and nursing – very secluded if they are wild seals. A ‘beach’ to them, can be a 8’ wide. Figure how many little beaches there are surrounded by cliff all along Point Loma, Pendelton, Sunset Cliffs, etc. For a rough guess on pupping sites, divide the 5900 new seals in 2005 by 20 pups per spot (conservative) = 395 “pupping places” in California.
15. What caused wild seals to take to a beach where humans go?
From 1993 to 2004, La Jolla had rehabilitated harbor seals from Sea World Reclamation Center brought from all over the county to be released near Children’s after being cared for, hand or bottle fed. http://www.friendsofthechildrenspool.com/legal_la_jolla_seals/Childrens_082505.pdf (Pages 22 and 30 ) They have lost fear of humans. http://www.todayslocalnews.com/?sect=lifestyles&p=1113 . Recently rehabbed seals can been identified at children's pool still wearing an orange rear flipper tag. Others are wild. Like people, wild seals will go someplace that should seem scary, if somebody else goes first. The fearlessness is passed on to their pups.
16. Seals have used Children’s Pool forever?
Children’s pool did not exist before 1932. There was “Seal Rock Point” which stopped where the sea wall begins now. There was no beach. Seals would have played on the reef behind it, and hauled out at Seal Rock, just a few hundred feet north, hence its name. In 1979, DFG officially recognized only 3 observed mainland haulout sites in San Diego; Seal Rock, Point La Jolla, and Rocky Point. Harbor seals first regularly visited Children’s in early ‘90s, though they might have used it at night before that. The city closed the beach to the public because of seal coliform bacteria in the water in 1997, roped off the beach, and numbers began to increase. (Last complete paragraph in page 30 of:)
http://www.friendsofthechildrenspool.com/legal_la_jolla_seals/Childrens_082505.pdf
17. Why are the seals not on other beaches in La Jolla?
They will be. In fact they are known to have started hauling out at other beaches, ignoring humans there. The 3.5% population growth of California harbor seals will ensure eventual additional colonization. Steps were taken to drive off sea lions and seals in Monterey and Pacific Grove.
18. Any attempt to move the seals at Children’s would violate their federal protection.The city had obtained the needed permits to remove the seals and restore Children’s Pool in 1999. Since then, NOAA has told the city it needs no permit, and could have gone ahead anyway. http://www.friendsofthechildrenspool.com/federal_la_jolla_seals/101705_noaa.pdf The city is under a court order to remove the seals at CP.
19. I came to see the only colony of seals in California, but I only see a few, not 200.
Any group of seals that have been seen to haul out together is a ‘colony’, like at the Harbor Island bait barge. There were counted almost 200 seals on the beach one day in moulting season. So someone concluded there is a colony of 200 living there all the time. According to http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=158 5th paragraph, harbor seals are found in groups only during haulouts for breeding and molting, but from a better source (Dr Doyle Hanan) “seals are found in groups of 1-1000+ at all times of the year, but the greatest numbers occur during pupping and moulting.” They do not form harems and ”Although they assemble in groups of up to several hundred, they do not form breeding colonies”. http://www.palomar.edu/oceanography/harbor_seals/facts.htm#HAULING-OUT%20TRENDS
20. Colony, shmolony! If there were 200 seen once, where are some for me to see?
It is true seals average 7 hours a day of rest, but so do you. That doesn’t mean they will sleep on hot sand in a fur coat. They can sleep in the water if they choose.
The number of seals hauled out peaks during the molt (May) when they like to be warm on the sand. The heat helps dry and shed their hair. After that, as true summer hits, they are in the water, hunting and exploring. Look over on Seal Rock. Come back tonight. Or sign up for the SEAL Amphibious bus tour of the bay. Pretty sure you will see seals when it goes by the bait barge. http://www.trustedtours.com/store/category2.aspx?SID=5&Category_ID=186
22. Does the City want to dredge Children’s in order to get rid of the seals?
The City doesn’t want to do that at all. This City is under court order to restore Children’s as a pool per the trust by which the seawall was built. http://www.friendsofthechildrenspool.com/legal_la_jolla_seals/Childrens_082505.pdf The City has exhausted every appeal, as it would for any forced expense.
23. How could the City move seals so they can restore the pool?
It doesn’t need to. Just start working, and the seals will get out of the way. That does not mean they will stay away. http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Marine-Mammals/Seals-and-Sea-Lions/Deterring-Pinnipeds.cfm NOAA has lots of suggested ways to deter pinnipeds without hurting them, but none of them work for long, if at all except big fences. http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Marine-Mammals/Seals-and-Sea-Lions/upload/Deter-Pinnipeds.pdf
24. There are 80,000 tourists a month at Children’s.
That number is an estimate made by lifeguards of how many people come under the protection of the Children’s Pool lifeguard station. It includes swimmers, divers, and everyone within sight of the station, including 4 blocks of street and 5 beaches. The number of seal watchers is much smaller.
25. Has human encroachment on the coast driven seals from all the other beaches?
Other way round. Human encroachment is what allowed a modification of normal seal behavior so some would haul out on an open white beach instead of tiny isolated nooks under cliffs. A couple hundred years ago, seals were prey to cougars, bears, coyotes, and Indians, but only if they were on land. Pups could be snatched by an eagle too. Brush grew right up to the sand, where predators could be. No seal in his right mind would haul out on an open beach where he would be a target. The density of human acclimated harbor seals here is explained in question 15. Human encroachment on the area has removed every predator, and barriers errected at Children's taught generations of harbor seals that humans, though large, are harmless, like cows.
26. Children’s does not seem like much compared to 70 miles of beaches
70 miles of beach in San Diego is a real whopper. Look at a map. From Mexico to Oceanside is a distance of 52 miles. That includes the inaccessible cliff sides in PB, and the sea walls in Mission Bay and lots of other unusable coastline. In 26.2 miles of Mission Bay shoreline, for instance, there is very little public beach besides Fiesta Island.
City Lifeguard Service lists 11 beaches in San Diego, and 3 are rated for beginner divers, La Jolla Shores, La Jolla Cove, and Children’s Pool. http://www.sandiego.gov/lifeguards/beaches/
27. Will my going on the beach frighten a mother seal into premature birth?
Have you ever heard of any mammal capable of being startled into spontaneous premature delivery? Birth is not like emptying a bucket. Cervical dilation alone takes hours. A person may see a seal give birth shortly after appearing startled, but the 2 events are unrelated. Alll reports of such have been in December, before pupping season starts, and were simply premature.
Stillborn pups in the wild are common. “Mortality at study sites in the Strait of Juan de Fuca was related to premature parturition; 19 of 49 (39%) of the pups found dead were born prematurely.”
From http://www.jwildlifedis.org/cgi/content/abstract/25/3/319