CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / LA JOLLA
Under a Superior Court order to herd seals off the beach at the Children’s Pool, San Diego plans to spray the mammals with water and blast loud noises at them, according to documents released Friday.
The city intends to use amplified noise, probably recordings of barking dogs, seven days a week from 6 a.m. to sunset to convince the seals to move. A court hearing is set for Wednesday on the plan.
A Superior Court judge has ordered the city to move the seals so the beach will again be clean enough for children and families. But dueling litigation in the federal court system has taken the opposite view: that the seals are a protected group under federal law meant to safeguard marine mammals.
More than 100 seals lounge on the beach on a sunny day. The city estimates that its spraying and noise-making plan, as well as water testing and seal counting, will cost $688,934 a year.
-- Tony Perry
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