San Diego restricts beach use after seal abuse
Harbor seals watch for danger at Children's Pool Beach January 24, 2003 in La Jolla, California.
Photographer: (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
Copyright Getty Images
Posted: 03/19/2013
SAN DIEGO - San Diego's mayor has ordered a two-month nighttime shutdown of a beach after cameras set up to monitor a seal colony captured people kicking, punching and sitting on top of mother seals and their pups.
Mayor Bob Filner said in a statement Tuesday that the La Jolla beach known as Children's Pool will be closed between sunset and sunrise until May 15.
The 24-hour "seal-cam" was introduced in January and equipped with night vision so researchers and the public could watch the seals give birth during pupping season.
But the camera captured people abusing and harassing the seals and driving them from their resting places.
The beach has been the center of a long legal fight over human access versus seal protection.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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