La Jolla Parks and Beaches, Inc just announced that the La Jolla Cove Beach will be closed to the public this week. The news follows a board meeting, where both officials and residents agreed that it’s the best course to follow to protect the sea lions that we’re so used to spotting in La Jolla.
The problem
When it comes to the beautiful wildlife around San Diego, over-tourism and general behavior have been a known problem for years. Even though the beach always displays signs and has chains blocking access, this hasn’t stopped some from intruding on the wildlife’s space. The consequence? Sea lions have registered alarming levels of stress!
Sea lions get stressed?
They do! All animals do, in fact. How do we know? There are a couple of ways to find out, by measuring cortisol levels through blood, saliva, and more. This is a test that’s performed periodically to our lovely sea lions in La Jolla Cove Beach…and the last one had devastating results, with a 20% increase compared to the previous season. Signs of stress in sea lions include aggression, lethargy, excessive vocalization, or abnormal behaviors like refusing to eat.
Unfortunately, it seems like the sun and spring brought more people, more rules have been broken, and more animals are now stressed out.
La Jolla Cove Beach closes
The only thing that was left to do was to make a really hard decision – close the La Jolla Cove Beach. This is an unprecedented move by the local authorities, but one that doesn’t surprise us much. Hopefully, the sea lions can enjoy some much-needed alone time and regulate their stress levels. When the beach opens back up, we encourage everyone to be mindful bystanders, so this never happens again.
Disclaimer: Pfhew, this was only an April Fools prank. However, the situation described in this article is very real, and discussions over this topic have happened many times. To make sure we never have to write this article for real, and you never have to receive this sad news, please be mindful and protect wildlife at all times.