HEADS UP! - Harbor Seal Harassment and Injury at Casa Beach
"First pup of the season" - December 24, 2006
"I cannot even tell you how upset I am regarding what happened yesterday at the beach. At around 12:15 pm a man crossed the rope and ran towards the seals to retrieve a shoe his son threw at the animals. Sgt. [ name withheld ] who was in the lifeguard tower told him, 'IT IS OK TO CROSS THE ROPE'..."
"As the seals fled to the ocean, one of the pregnant females aborted a pup. There was no bonding between the mother and the pup. NOAA ignored my phonecall. As we were guarding the pup from the crowd, Lifeguard [ name withheld ] ... ran along the seawall to pick up somebody's glasses causing another panic and more than 50 seals flushed in the water. The public became so angry that the lifeguards locked themselves in the tower hiding from people who were screaming at them and complaining..."
"The volunteers reported this morning that the pup was abandoned by its mother and washed away by the tide."
"... we have to let the public know what's going on down there. The lifeguards' behavior is unaccaptable - they encourage the visitors to cross the rope, they also made an opening in the rope barrier, fixed by us the night before, and placed the rescue board down on the sand, which is totally against the agreement (they are not to put the rescue board on the beach during pupping season)."
- reported by a SealWatchSanDiego.org volunteer [ photo #1 ] [ photo #2 ]
Moved to do something? See Action Guide (48Kb PDF)
originally from the Save Our Seals Coaltion (now off line)
originally from the Save Our Seals Coaltion (now off line)
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