[dsafety]

I grew up in La Jolla and know the area like the back of my hand. Most of the La Jolla beach or rock launch locations lack nearby parking and the access involves climbing down a cliff. The few sandy beaches often have a dangerous shore break that would flip the best of us. There is one exception, the Children's Pool.

Back in the day, (before the seals took over), The Children's Pool, aka Casa cove was a place that people would launch zodiacs and other small boats. There is even a paved, although steep and bumpy, ramp to the beach that drops you off right in the middle of where the seals like to lay in the sun. These days it is unclear if launching there would be OK.

Before the lifeguard station at the Casa was closed a few months ago, I stopped in to see if I could get an answer. As a former lifeguard, I was able to have a very candid talk with the guards on duty.

They told me that as far as they were concerned, this place is a public beach and that I could launch a kayak there any time I wanted. On the other hand, they reminded me that it is illegal to "harass" the seals. The problem is that the definition of harassment is open to interpretation. To most reasonable people, as long as one does not overtly try to bother these critters, everything should be fine. As a kid, I used to snorkel with the seals swimming around me all the time. Unfortunately, there are some zealots who think that we humans are harassing wildlife by simply sharing the planet with them. To these people, some of them real nut cases, setting foot on the Casa beach should be a hanging offence.

I have thought of testing all of this by launching at the Casa but do not think that it would be wise without some backup and an official ruling from the City. This might be something that we, the big WE, might want to push forward.

Does anyone have thoughts on this?

Bob