Monterey, California Beach Closed to Protect Hundreds of Sea Lions

Local officials have closed the area around Monterey, California’s San Carlos Beach to people following the takeover of hundreds of sea lions.

Caution tape was placed along the beach, but crowds continued to gather and take photos of the sea lions resting and frolicking, reported Reuters.

The social and playful marine mammals frequently gather on the beaches along California’s picturesque coastline, but locals said they had never observed so many together at a time in Monterey.

The large pinnipeds have already been at San Carlos Beach for more than two weeks, and city officials weren’t sure how long they would stick around, the Los Angeles Times reported.

City spokesperson Laurie Huelga said the sea lions normally stay on the beach for three to four weeks. Monterey parks staff have been monitoring them along with the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS).

“We want residents and visitors to be safe while visiting the coastline, and remind you to enjoy and watch the sea lions from a distance of at least 50 yards,” said city officials in a news release. “Please remember, we humans are sharing this space with other species.”

Lisa Uttal, a MBNMS marine biologist, said the reason the sea lions gathered at San Carlos Beach wasn’t clear, but that they could be attracted to the diverse array of delicacies in the marine ecosystem there, reported Reuters. Most of the eared seal occupants of the beach were male, Uttal said.

According to Marge Brigadier, an MBNMS Bay Net program volunteer, the sea lions are protected under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. The law prohibits people from interfering with the sea lions’ behavior by getting too close to them or forcing them to flee, for example.

“People just need to think about how they would feel if they were resting on their bed taking a nap and something big kept coming and chasing them out of the house,” Brigadier said.

The primarily male group travels from the Channel Islands each year, usually stopping along adjacent beaches to feed and rest, the Los Angeles Times reported. However, Huelga said, this journey brought them to San Carlos Beach.

“They migrate up here down from Ventura and the Channel Islands… They are incredibly mobile. They’re usually chasing the food and because Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is so productive out here, the productivity is really rich,” Uttal explained, as reported by Reuters.

The area is a scuba divers’ hangout, and this year’s pinniped party also happened to be at the same time as Monterey Car Week — a luxury car and motorsport event.

“It was traffic gridlock with streams of exotic cars revving their engines and backfiring. With each loud pop the sea lions would begin to bolt towards the ocean,” Stephen Pacetti wrote on the Monterey Bay Area Scuba Divers Open Facebook group, as the San Francisco Chronicle reported. “Car Week in Monterey is not consistent with the Marine Mammal Protection Act.”

Uttal said MBNMS volunteers have been talking with people about how important it is to give the sea lions their space, both for the protection of the animals and their own.

“I don’t think the scuba divers know that they’re breaking a federal law if they get too close. It’s also a safety issue,” Uttal said. “Unlike the harbor seals that lug along on the beach, these guys have pectoral fins and they can rise up on them and move if they need to.”

San Carlos Beach is situated in the tourist center of Monterey, on Cannery Row’s west end.

“Please, please let these beautiful, cacophonous, naturally-perfumed creatures do their thing and you do yours elsewhere,” diver Suzanne E. Frey said on social media, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.