Children's Pool Beach

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Seals at Children's Pool.

Children's Pool Beach, or the Casa, or Casa beach, is a small sandy beach located at 850 Coast Boulevard, at the intersection of Jenner Ave, in La Jolla, California.

In 1999, the National Marine Fisheries Service recognized the Children's Pool as a natural harbor seal haulout and rookery site. In 2005 it advised the City it could remove the seals without asking permission. In 2007, a court order mandating clearing accumulated sand and shooing away the seals to allow children to swim there again was unanimously upheld by a 3 judge appeals court. The seals are protected under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act. Back in January 2007, the City maintained a rope barrier from December 15 through May 15, so pregnant seals can rest and give birth on the beach without humans coming too close and frightening them. Pupping season is officially mid January to mid April. [federal_la_jolla_seals/101705_noaa.pdf] The rope was put up with no legal authority but as an "indicator", with an opening for the public to pass through as mandated by the Coastal Commission. A permit for the same rope this year is yet to be acted on.

A sea wall protects the beach from waves, making it a favored spot for the seals and divers and swimmers. Before the sea wall was built in 1931, there was a shallow water area between a large rock and a mainland bluff called "Seal Rock Point." The sea wall was built on top of several rocks, across the channel, connecting it to Seal Rock Point. [Pages%20from%20v51-3_HistoricalSociety.pdf]]Local benefactress Ellen Browning Scripps paid for the project and dedicated it as the Children's Link titlePool "..devoted exclusively to public park, bathing pool for children, parkway, highway, playground..."1931-08-14-tidelands-grant.pdf Seal Rock is and always has been 100 yards north, where seals had always played. In 1990's, to help promote a reserve at Seal Rock, Sea World began dropping all rescued and rehabilitated harbor seals from the entire county in the kelp beds off Seal Rock. The seals were used to humans and joined them on the nearby Children's Pool Beach. To this day they are very acclimated to people and will play with swimmers and divers.

Harbor seals began using the beach in increasing numbers in the 1990s as a haul-out spot after the Sea World veterans began showing up 2005-08-25-o-sullivan-vs-city.pdf page 27,30. There continues to be heated controversy over whether the beach should be protected as a marine sanctuary or used for recreational swimming. This in spite of the ruling by the Coastal Commission that Children's Pool cannot be used as a marine preserve. Currently, swimming is allowed but not typically recommended due to a high coliform index which is entirely due to seal feces. Though many people do swim there, none get sick.

California sealions also use this beach as a haul-out area.