Children's Pool Beach

The structure was gifted to the community of La Jolla by local philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps, who paid for the construction of a breakwater project in order to create a place where children could play and swim that would be protected from waves.

[2] The San Diego City Council in 1992 noted that the population of marine mammals and particularly harbor seals had been increasing over the past 10 years.

In February 2000, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) said it intended to manage the area as a "harbor seal natural haul-out and rookery".

[10] In July 2009 the governor of California signed legislation, authored by state senator Christine Kehoe, modifying the uses the beach could be put to.

The legislation specified that in addition to the original list of uses, the beach could also be used as a marine mammal sanctuary, and it gave the City Council the power to decide.

He said those decisions were correct when they were issued, but that the state legislation signed in July made it illogical now to force the city to get rid of the established colony.

"[15] In April 2010, the City Council's Natural Resources Committee approved a plan that would close the beach to the public from December to May and install a year-round rope barrier.

Meanwhile, the current policy remained in effect, allowing shared use of the beach by humans and seals, with an advisory rope barrier during pupping season.

On June 3, 2011, a judge ruled that the rope barrier intended to keep visitors away from the seals at Children’s Pool beach could be removed, throwing out a preliminary injunction.

The City has maintained a rope barrier from December 15 through May 15, so that pregnant seals can rest and give birth on the beach without humans coming too close and frightening them.

The city lifeguard service warns that "Like all wild animals, seals and sea lions are unpredictable and can become aggressive quickly.

[20] In 2013 Mayor Bob Filner approved the installation of a camera (donated by the Western Alliance for Nature) in order to monitor the seals, their behavior, and people interacting with them.

A CNN article from March 21, 2013, featured a night-time video of the Children's Pool Beach that showed two young women abusing the seals.