Marine Mammal Protection Act<\/a> \u2014 which prohibits harassing or harming them \u2014 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are investigating the incident.<\/p>\nIn the days following the video\u2019s release, San Diego City Council president Joe LaCava, whose District 1 includes La Jolla, posted a joint statement with San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria to social media.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe appreciate NOAA\u2019s swift response and their leadership in this investigation,\u201d he wrote. \u201cWe also encourage their continued partnership and enforcement efforts at La Jolla Cove and Point La Jolla. People need to understand that harassing marine mammals is not just irresponsible \u2014 it is a federal crime with serious consequences. Visible enforcement and accountability are essential to protecting both our wildlife and the public\u2019s respect for these shared spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a separate post, Gloria said he has asked local law enforcement to review the footage as part of the investigation.<\/p>\n
Looking for more immediate action, LJP&B discussed the incident and what might be done about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there is a lot of public outrage on both sides of this issue, so the question is, is there any role that we can play to move this off of the stalemate that it\u2019s at,\u201d LJP&B president Ann Dynes said at the meeting. \u201cBecause right now, you have too many animals and some unfortunate people that are doing nasty things.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked if there are any imminent steps residents might expect, LaCava\u2019s field representative Joaquin Quintero told the board the city would not likely take any additional action until the investigation is complete.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will continue to see what we\u2019ve seen with rangers issuing warnings and a-frame signage,\u201d he shared with the group, referring to efforts that have already been taken at La Jolla Cove to keep people and sea lions apart.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, the city deployed additional rangers to La Jolla Cove and authorized them to use a bullhorn to give out verbal warnings should a beach goer get too close to an animal. Additionally, new signage was installed outlining what is allowed and prohibited in the area.<\/p>\n
As an additional measure, La Jolla resident and self-proclaimed \u201cstrong advocate for wildlife protection and conservation\u201d Melissa Studer said nighttime enforcement was needed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI recognize that we need to balance wildlife protection with human recreational use \u2026 but what I believe is happening is another failure of city and community leadership \u2026 the city is allowing these human interactions,\u201d she said. \u201cUntil there is 24\/7 patrol, those incidents are going to continue to happen. I hope it\u2019s a wake-up call for La Jolla. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s the reputation we want.\u201d<\/p>\n
As another possible solution, local swimmer Eric Fletcher said he would like to see the city pass an ordinance that grants local municipalities such as the San Diego Police Department the ability to enforce the Marine Mammal Protection Act and impose consequences against those that violate it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to keep The Cove open and we want to stop seeing the atrocious attacks on animals,\u201d Fletcher said. \u201cWe need to change our behavior collectively because the pinnipeds aren\u2019t going anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
The board opted to further evaluate local law enforcement\u2019s ability to enforce the Marine Mammal Protection Act and discuss it and any other options at a future meeting.<\/p>\n
Those with information about the incident are encouraged to contact NOAA at (800) 853-1964.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Members of the La Jolla Parks & Beaches board are seeking answers and next steps following the widely-circulated…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":417165,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[7,930,5184,6804,74,84,76,75],"class_list":["post-417164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-california","tag-la-jolla","tag-la-jolla-light","tag-la-jolla-light-news","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-county","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=417164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/417165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=417164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=417164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=417164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}