I took the above video on Friday, May 25, 2012 when I stopped by Children's Pool Beach for just a few minutes. This kind of harassment has been constant since the city's rope barrier was removed May 15.

The City Council voted in May 2010 to keep the rope up year round, and to declare a coastal emergency so the rope could stay up while anti-seal individuals appealed it to the Coastal Commission. However, the city attorney decided that only the mayor can declare a coastal emergency--which means a sudden, unexpected occurrence in the coastal zone--and the mayor has declined to do so.

The federal government is routinely ignoring the fact that the Marine Mammal Protection Act is being violated on a constant basis at this beach. National Marine Fisheries Service enforcement agents either need to start enforcing the law, or tell the mayor that this IS a coastal emergency and he should install the self-enforcing guildeline rope immediately as directed by the City Council.

The people in the video are not seal haters. They just don't realize that getting this close to resting marine mammals--and getting between a resting pup and his mother--is harmful and dangerous. This is a failure of the executive branches of both the local and federal governments to enforce the laws enacted by their respective legislative branches.