SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The Sierra Club says sea lions in La Jolla have died after humans interacted with them. As ABC 10News reporter Spencer Soicher reports, the group is calling for a ranger at the park to stop people from getting too close.
Carol Toye, a volunteer with the Sierra Club's Seal Society, likes to help both the sea lions in La Jolla Cove and the people that are bothering them.
"You need to keep children well away," she told a group of onlookers.
Her blue vest lets you know she's a volunteer with the Sierra Club's Seal Society.
And while she likes being here, she thinks someone from the city should be doing this job.
"Really, the best people to educate and keep people safe on the beach would be rangers," she says.
The Sierra Club's request for a ranger and additional signage at La Jolla Cove is not new, but the call for it is now louder than a barking sea lion's.
"At the moment we have nine pups that were born in the cove this year, and, there are only two left," Toye told 10News.
The Sierra Club says it has found three dead pups on the beach in recent weeks. They're not sure what happened to the other four at this point.
According to the NOAA, mothers often abandon their pups after they're touched by humans.
"We do feel that the interaction and the lack of management has contributed to that," says Toye.
The City of San Diego says it knows about the issues here between people and sea lions, but it's NOAA who has "ultimate jurisdiction over marine wildlife and enforcement authority."
When 10News reached out to NOAA, it said it was the city's call.
The Sierra Club wants some management plan in place, and it thinks the pup deaths may have been avoidable.
"We're quite disappointed that we came to this situation. The pups are born in June every year... We know it's always the same time of year that. More wasn't put in place," Toye says.
In addition to the Sierra Club's request--- the La Jolla Parks and Beaches group is suggesting moving the sea lions about 50 yards to the west. That would put them in an area that is already off limits to people.
