On my recent San Diego road trip one thing I wanted to do was go and see the seals that call La Jolla home.
I knew these San Diego area Harbor Seals were located at a place called Children’s Pool in La Jolla Cove. I didn’t really know anything else, but figured it would be easy enough to find! So I drove along the coast down to La Jolla from Torrey Pines Reserve. Snaking along the coastline, stopping at places such as Kellogg Park and La Jolla Shores Park.
Those parks had nice beaches, but nobody was swimming – not even a seal – so I kept on moving.
Not long after I came to Coast Boulevard, ah ha! I was getting close. I purposely had come here on a Monday too, after hearing that finding a parking spot is a near possibility on weekends. Time to see the San Diego seals!
First, I got distracted by a cheeky little squirrel who’d obviously had a few over-friendly people supply him with some tasty treats, as he was all too eager to hang around. Cute little guy, but still – not a seal.
Just a short walk further was my destination. I walked along the seal viewing pathway, which juts out into the ocean and provides a nice viewing area above the Children’s Pool Beach. After watching a handful of Harbour Seals lolling about on some rocks on the ocean side of the wall, I came upon the haul out beach. Wow…there must have been a hundred or more seals sunning themselves.
Very cool, it was fun getting to see them enjoying the beach. They looked happy and peaceful (but don’t all seals seem to look happy??)
While pups are usually born starting in February there were a couple of young ones on the beach already, which was a nice surprise.
One of them really caught my eye. The mother of this pup was a lighter silver-grey colour compared to most other seals on the beach. But the pup she was looking after was nearly pure white! It stood out from the crowd, as the other pups and seals were mostly dark grey or almost black in colour. I asked around but nobody else seemed to know why that mother and especially the pup were of a lighter colour.
I hung around for about an hour before moving over to the other side of the beach and watching the seals from the viewing wall along the sidewalk. A few people went down to the beach, up to the roped off area which protects the harbor seals from being harassed. I thought about heading down, but it seems like some seals were sensitive to people being that close, so I enjoyed them from a distance.
It was a fun afternoon and a real treat to have such creatures be so accessible!
On a side note – It turns out the harbour seals are a bit of a controversy to some local residents, who want free reign of the beach as well. Apparently the seals were originally released in the area without full approval from the local community. Some people want them relocated, some people want them protected more. Given how many other beaches I saw nearby (without anyone swimming!) my personal vote is for saving the seals of La Jolla. To be honest I wouldn’t have visited La Jolla and spent my money there if they didn’t have the seals.
