Protect a Vulnerable Marine Habitat 

San Diego has a full coastline of beaches for humans. The Pacific harbor seals have their one spot.

The beach at La Jolla's Children's Pool has become one of Southern California's most important resting and pupping sites for Pacific harbor seals.  

Every year, seals use this beach to give birth, nurse their pups, and recover between feeding trips. During these critical periods, repeated human activity on the beach is disrupting their natural behavior and increasing stress.

This specific beach does not need to be open to the public, and is most frequented by tourist, who have continued to disrespect our city and our wildlife at growing numbers.

The Children’s pool in La Jolla is closed to the public every year from December 15 - May 15 to protect pregnant harbor seals and their newborn pups during the pupping season, but what is the point if humans, majority of which are tourists, are going to come to this beach and touch / harm the pups, which leads to mothers abandoning them.

In San Diego's high-traffic La Jolla Cove, approximately 40% to 50% of newborn sea lion pups do not survive the season. Wildlife advocates contrast this with a much lower mortality rate of about 10% at nearby protected beaches that are closed to public human access.

More and more visitors are not keeping their distance. People continue to enter the beach, approach seals too closely, and allow dogs, children, or other disturbances near resting animals. This is dangerous for everyone involved.

These interactions can and are interfering with the seals' ability to rest, nurse their pups, and safely use the habitat that they need for survival. 

This beach has become a wildlife sanctuary in practice. 

Continuing to allow unrestricted public access creates an ongoing conflict between recreation and wildlife conservation, which is one that the seals cannot choose to avoid.

We Are Calling For:

• Permanently closing public access to the Children's Pool beach itself while maintaining public access to surrounding sidewalks, overlooks, and viewing areas.
• Stronger enforcement of wildlife protection laws and minimum viewing distances.
• Additional educational signage explaining why undisturbed habitat is essential for seal health and reproduction.
• Increased monitoring during pupping season to reduce disturbances.
• Proper legal accountability when these rules are broken and the seals are abused and harmed.

Why This Matters

Harbor seals return to this beach because it provides the conditions they need to survive and raise their young. 

Human recreation can take place at countless other beaches throughout San Diego, but suitable pupping habitat is far more limited.

Protecting this beach would:

• Reduce repeated disturbances to resting and nursing seals.
• Improve pup survival by providing a more peaceful environment.
• Support local marine biodiversity.
• Allow residents and visitors to continue enjoying the seals responsibly from designated viewing areas.

Wildlife conservation sometimes requires setting aside spaces where animals come first. The Children's Pool has become one of those places.

We urge local leaders like Mayor Todd Gloria and wildlife management agencies to permanently close beach access, and prioritize the long-term protection of La Jolla's harbor seal colony.

Please sign this petition if you believe this unique coastal habitat should be managed first and foremost as a refuge for the seals that depend on it.