THE BEAUTIFUL SEALS OF LA JOLLA, CA
Two weeks ago, I visited La Jolla, California to observe the harbor seals in residence at Casa Beach. Pup season runs from December through May and mother seals are continually drawn to this beautiful place to deliver their offspring.
Tourists and residents alike make the short walk to the beach from downtown La Jolla, often bringing their children to marvel at and learn more about the life of seals. According to La Jolla Friends of the Seals, 38 births have taken place on Casa Beach as of March 16th, many of which were witnessed from a respectful distance by humans in awe of the miracle of life taking place before them.
THE BEACH DEBATE
Of course, some people feel this beach should belong exclusively to humans. One man holds vigil at a table passing out pamphlets lauding the rights of people to use this space. Two men and a child frequently camp out on the beach, tossing a Frisbee too close to the seals. The child, at one point, was seen standing triumphantly on a rock lording over a mother giving birth. These accounts come from SealWatch volunteer, Colleen Cochran, in her recent article “Diary of a SealWatcher” (San Diego Reader, April 2, 2011).
The squatters mentioned above told Cochran that they don’t mind the seals, they just want to use the beach too. They believe the seals have a choice, as they do, to stay or go. While this sounds mutually congenial in theory, the human arrogance is undeniable and, with greater human visitation and activity, the seals will be forced to vacate from their ancient birthing place. Co-existence is, in no way, obtainable.
Cochran’s article, which outlines the specific reasons for and battles between seal proponents and the anti-seal contingent, reads:
San Diego Parks and Recreation Department promotes this myth of shared use. Posted signs at the entrance of the beach read, “Share the beach with the seals, but keep a safe distance.” The signs profess the unattainable, ” The beach and waters are open for public enjoyment. This is also a home and resting place for Harbor Seals.” They provide a typical political response, and like all such politic answers, solve nothing. In fact, this doublespeak is the sole cause of chaos at Casa Beach.
In the video I filmed at La Jolla, mother seals and their pups settle in at sunset for a restful night’s sleep, but for a short clip when the seals flee in haste. At that point, a man crossed the rope line for a picture and sent the pups scurrying – regardless of placards stating such behavior can separate pup from mom to the detriment of his or her survival. As my friends sternly told the man to get out, I’m pretty sure I called him a jackass right in front of his kid. I have no remorse. These beautiful creatures deserve a respectful distance.
BABY SEALS SHOT AND CLUBBED OFF CANADIAN SHORES
While people push and push back over the fate of seals in La Jolla, a flimsy “advisory rope” exists and, for now, mother seals birth their pups in relative safety. Seal pups off the shores of Newfoundland and Labrador are not so lucky.
Canada’s seal hunters began clubbing and slaughtering baby seals on Monday. Fred O’Regan of the International Fund for Animal Welfare shared a firsthand report from IFAW’s Seal Campaign Director, Sheryl Fink:
“Baby seals just a few weeks old are being shot at on small pans of ice, then clubbed or hooked and brought onboard the sealing ships to be skinned. Few sealers have been checking to see if the seals are unconscious before hooking or slicing them open.
Seals are also being killed for no reason – their bodies left on the ice to rot – a clear violation of Canada’s Marine Mammal Regulations.
And in one horror-show case, we saw a young seal dumped in the bottom of a small boat while the sealers kept hunting and adding other bodies to the pile. The young seal – which was not checked to make sure it was unconscious – reaches up and waves its front flipper repeatedly, clearly still alive and in terrible agony.”
According to O’Regan, “Over 200,000 seals were saved last year. And this year only 27 sealing boats have joined this hunt so far – compared to 58 from last year. And this is significantly down from years past.”
If you have any interest in making this gruesome killing obsolete, please give now.
Can they not give the seals some respect during pup season? How would their mothers have felt if someone had come into their hospital room and started playing frisbee right after they had delivered?
I am happy to hear that the number of ships arriving for the Canadian seal hunt is down, but I will be much happier when there are no ships or people at all.
Vicki, I hear you. Improvement is good in the sealing industry but to abolish it altogether is the only thing that will stop this senseless inhumane slaughter, especially that of a species already greatly challenged by the St. Lawrence not freezing for the past 2 years.
This is very sad and distressing. Like you said, there is an air of "human arrogance" and entitlement in the Casa Beach area. And it's so difficult to comprehend the seal slaughter in Newfoundland. At least one consolation is that the numbers are down. But still…
I will say that I experienced only the curious if clueless father in La Jolla. Everybody else in the crowd was respectful. Had I witnessed that game of Frisbee though, I doubt my anger could have been contained.
As for Canada's seal slaughter, what product can seals offer that isn't already provided by other sources? It's not like we make candles from fat anymore.
Thanks for this post and for the beautiful footage of the seals … and the sunset!
I grew up near La Jolla and the debate has gone on for as long as I can remember. "Jackass" is incredibly polite.
I don't even have words harsh enough for those slaughter seals.
-Chandra at Daley's Dog Years
Hi Chandra, thanks for taking the time to watch the video. I was so enamored with those little lumps and the sunset was simply stunning. I'm glad I have those happy memories so etched upon my mind.
It wasn't until I came home and did some research that I learned of the rest. The jackass, in the moment, seemed like a one-off incident during my mostly positive experience. I had no idea that a battle has raged on for so long!
Humans can be incredibly arrogant, as we take over more and more habitat that once belonged to wildlife. Excellent post.
Agreed, and thanks for saying so, Pat!
I only just recently read about the situation at La Jolla in the book I have by Erica Ritter. Good on you for not being scared to say what you think. I don't know if it made a difference to the jackass but perhaps other passers by, who didn't think what he was doing was a big deal, may think twice the next time. The more people brave enough to speak out, the better. I think you may have shifted more opinions than you could ever know.
The seal hunt is a pretty controversial issue in my corner of the world. What these horrible people are doing, the way they ignore the law and seem to think they can do as they please with whoever they please, really pisses me off. Unfortunately, I can't talk about it too much publicly given the nature of my job, but I appreciate you sharing your viewpoint.
Once again, I'm dismayed at the arrogance of the human species. These mother seals, exhausted from giving birth and the task of feeding their young, need to be disturbed by ignorant humans that must have a picture of them? In general, humans have no concept of "a respectable distance." The beach belonged to the seals before we got here – we should at least be able to leave it to them to bear their young in peace.
As for the seal hunting – I'm disgusted. What kind of person can look into the eyes of a helpless seal pup and club it? This is not a matter of needing food, there is no consideration of the life that is departing, it's barbaric. It makes me want to get a club of my own – to use on the seal hunters!
Ugh, we never seem to be able to leave anything alone, can we? Thanks so much for bringing the La Jolla seals situation to light for those of us out of the area. Reminds me of one of my favorite sayings: Respect your fellow Earthlings.
That was so painful to read but definitely needed to be written. Humans are so arrogant when it comes to what they assume is "their" space. God may have given man dominion over animals, but I know he expected respect and compasion to go along with that. Maybe the city could pass a bylaw where folks receive a fine for bothering the seals? As for the seal hunt, I don't what could possibly hold up abolishing it. I'm sure the folks in Newfoundland and Labradour could be retrained to do something else.
As a Canadian, I've known about the seal hunt for a looong time. It's just something that you find out about one day, and it's usually mentioned pretty casually. I have HATED the hunt since the day I heard it existed, and while I'm glad to hear that the numbers are down, that's just not enough. It needs to stop, and it needs to stop YESTERDAY.
This just isn't something I can wrap my mind around – how any human could possibly do any of these acts. AJ is right – we need to stop it yesterday!!
Thank you for such complete coverage about the issue!!
This one is especially for Dawn Niebuhr, Tee Nichols, and Kathy Brown Weatherman.
and we call ourselves manKIND…..:(
Indeed.