The city of San Diego will lead an information-only presentation about people and sea lions at La Jolla Cove during the California Coastal Commission’s meeting Wednesday, Dec. 10. 

Specifics of the presentation are scarce, but it is listed as an “update on the status of management strategies at La Jolla Cove to avoid harassment of sea lions.” It will be led by the San Diego Parks & Recreation Department and Coastal Commission staff.

There will be an opportunity for public comment, but no vote will be taken. 

The meeting is planned to begin at 9 a.m. at the Pier South Resort in Imperial Beach. It isn’t yet known when during the meeting the presentation will be given. The meeting will be livestreamed at coastal.ca.gov. 

San Diego representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Representatives of the La Jolla Parks & Beaches board and La Jolla Cove Access Working Group said they were unaware of the planned presentation and did not know whether they would attend and/or speak. 

La Jolla Cove and the sea lions that go on land to rest there have been the subject of a continued effort by the city and Coastal Commission to maintain safe access to The Cove for humans while preventing unsafe interactions with the pinnipeds. 

In June 2021, the Seal Society and Sierra Club San Diego called on Mayor Todd Gloria to declare an emergency and temporarily close Point La Jolla — adjacent to La Jolla Cove — to the public during sea lion pupping season while keeping the viewing area from an adjacent wall open.

Rather than pursue a closure, the city in early July that year posted signs at the entrance to Point La Jolla and the adjacent Boomer Beach, some of them reading “Stay back: Sea lion birthing area.” Other signs cautioned that sea lions can bite and that harassing them is against the law.

Stenciling on trash cans, the sidewalk and the short wall that lines Point La Jolla reads “Do not approach mothers or pups” and “Do not approach sea lions.”

In August 2021, City Councilman Joe LaCava, whose District 1 includes La Jolla, said the city had decided to take “more assertive steps,” and Point La Jolla was closed for five weeks on an emergency basis from Aug. 11 through Sept. 15.

In April 2022, the Coastal Commission voted unanimously to approve an annual pupping season closure of Point La Jolla and most of Boomer Beach from May 1 to Oct. 31.

In September 2023, the commission voted to approve extending the closure of the point and the bluffs at Boomer Beach to year-round.

La Jolla’s longtime conflict between beach access rights for people and protections for marine animals against human misconduct has led not only to the public closure of Point La Jolla but also the five-month annual closure of the Children’s Pool, which is home to harbor seals.

Public access to La Jolla Cove is unrestricted, but fearing it might be next to close, the Cove Access Working Group formed in September 2024 under the auspices of La Jolla Parks & Beaches to put together a plan to address interactions between humans and sea lions there.

After months of analysis and discussion, the group produced a five-point plan in June this year and planned to meet with city representatives, lifeguards, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and others to see what it would take to implement its ideas and whether anything would be off the table. 

The five-point plan included:

• Improved signs

• A script in various languages to give to tour buses explaining how people can view the sea lions safely

• A clearly marked area for pinniped viewing

• Rangers authorized to issue fines and/or place cones or tape as a visual deterrent

• A system designed to keep sea lions away, such as an acoustic device that emits low-frequency sounds to discourage them from going on land

Those steps would be in addition to education efforts by volunteer docents who patrol the area for the Seal Society.

During a July 30 meeting with LaCava, the sign proposal was seen as “reasonable,” though the others were seen as more difficult, said working group member Chas. Dye.

LaCava told the La Jolla Light that the meeting was “productive and dovetails with the city’s efforts. I look forward to better management as we work together to ensure The Cove remains open to all.”

Subsequent meetings and steps have not been announced. ♦