Other ways to help:
Sponsor a seal:
http://sponsor-a-seal.tripod.com/
Purchase San Diego Animal Advocates merchandise and support our efforts on behalf of the seals:
http://sdaamerchandise.tripod.com/
Visit these websites for detailed information about the La Jolla seals:
SealWatchSanDiego.org
SealWatch.org
www.save-our-seals.org
www.lajollaseals.com
Make a donation through PayPal
Listen to our public service announcement! (700 k MP3 format)
Help us save the seals at Casa Beach in La Jolla!
Casa Beach in La Jolla, California (a neighborhood of the city of San Diego), is the home to a rookery of harbor seals that is beloved by local children, adults, and thousands of visiting tourists. Hundreds of local businesses have stated that the presence of the seals is beneficial to the La Jolla economy, and La Jolla's own tourist brochures endorse a visit to watch the seals and their pups on the beach as a popular tourist activity.
But a tiny group of people, motivated by greed and ignorance, has decided to endorse a destructive dredging of the beach, under the spurious notion that the seals "pollute" the area with their presence. This dredging would to drive the seals away permanently and would make it exclusively for human use, despite the fact that San Diego is full of other beaches for humans and Casa Beach is the only harbor seal rookery in Southern California. The Save-our-Seals Coalition, composed of animal protection and environmental groups and concerned citizens, has been fighting these efforts every step of the way.
As of November, 2005, the City of San Diego has decided to appeal a judge's decision that mandates the dredging of Casa Beach in La Jolla within six months. This has bought the seals some time, so right now we need YOUR help in the following areas:
1. Contact your city council members AND city attorney Mike Aguirre and request the following actions:
a. Immediately put the rope barrier back up at the beach, and keep it up-at least for the duration of pupping season. (Many foreign tourists and children cannot read the signs, and most don't bother. The rope is a clear signal that eliminates conflicts between seal volunteers and tourists, allowing the lifeguards to concentrate on saving lives in the water. The seals can't tolerate close contact with people; they scare easily and become separated from their pups.)
b. Cancel the city's plan to dredge Casa Beach (a.k.a. "Children's Pool Beach").c. Cancel the city's plan to harass the seals off the beach in preparation for dredging.
Click here for a sample letter
to San Diego City Attorney Mike Aguirre. (Word .doc)
| Michael Aguirre Office of the City Attorney Civic Center Plaza 1200 Third Avenue, Suite 1620 San Diego, CA 92101 Email: cityattorney@sandiego.gov |
Councilmember Scott Peters 202 C Street, MS #10A San Diego, CA 92101 Fax: (619) 236-6999 E-Mail: scottpeters@sandiego.gov |
|
Councilmember Toni Atkins 202 C Street, MS #10A San Diego, CA 92101 Fax: (619) 595-1481 Email: toniatkins@sandiego.gov |
Councilmember Tony Young 202 C Street, MS#10A San Diego, CA 92101 Fax: (619) 236-7273 Email: anthonyyoung@sandiego.gov |
|
Councilmember Brian Maienschein 202 C Street San Diego, CA 92101 Fax: (619) 238-0915 E-Mail: bmaienschein@sandiego.gov |
Councilmember Donna Frye 202 C Street, MS #10A San Diego, CA 92101 Fax: (619) 236-7329 Email: donnafrye@sandiego.gov |
|
Councilmember Jim Madaffer 202 C Street San Diego, CA 92101 Fax: (619) 238-1360 Email: jmadaffer@sandiego.gov | |
2. Contact the California Coastal Commission and ask them to vote "NO" on the dredging of Casa Beach.
Please refer to California Coastal Commission application 6-05-098 from the City of San Diego for a Coastal Development Permit, project location: "Children's Pool...," and project description: "The project scope is to excavate approx. 3,000 c y [cubic yards] of sand to return the beach to the 1941 configuration..." Letters must be faxed or sent via snail-mail, not email.
California Coastal Commission
45 Fremont Street, Suite 2000
San Francisco, CA 94105-2219
Fax: (415) 904-5400
3. We are also working toward making the beach a state marine mammal reserve so the seals will enjoy permanent protection.
Click here for a sample letter to the California Assembly. (Word.doc format)
4. Be a volunteer with our "Rake-a-Line Program,"
in which people work in shifts at the beach to educate visitors about avoiding seal harassment, and advise them to view the seals from a respectful distance. If you would like to participate in this program, please contact Sarah Khorram .
5. And last, but never least, we need MONEY!
Funds are needed to keep our campaign in the public eye and to support our media ads and printed materials. Please donate to the Save-our-Seals Coalition in care of:
San Diego Animal Advocates
4639 30th Street Suite A
San Diego, CA
92116-3207
info@animaladvocates.org
Other ways to help:
- Sponsor a seal: http://sponsor-a-seal.tripod.com/
- Purchase San Diego Animal Advocates merchandise and support our efforts on behalf of the seals:
- Visit these websites for detailed information about the La Jolla seals:
http://sdaamerchandise.tripod.com/
Thank you to Megan Sewell for compiling information for this website.
San Diego Animal Advocates || Contact us at info@animaladvocates.org
