Posted on 08/20/2024 2:59:57 PM PDT by nickcarraway
An invasion of sea lions at San Carlos beach in Monterey forced city leaders to close the beach Monday to all users, indefinitely.
“This is one of my favorite beaches to hang out on, on the lunch break, so I can't go there because it's partitioned off, but yeah, I love it,” said Teresa Jones, of Pacific Grove.
Barricades have been put up, preventing beachgoers from accessing the beach. The area is also a popular spot for scuba divers and diving lessons; the sea lions force them out as well.
“So there's actually a really great, another beach just about a mile down the road called McKamey Beach, and so we're just sending divers over there, and they're perfectly happy to just go a little bit extra to get in the water still,” said Megan Patton, of Monterey Bay Scuba.
Shoreline docents who regularly monitor sea life say the sea lions started arriving last week, about 20 of them, but by Sunday night, there were hundreds of them.
“Last night, I estimated between 800 and 1,000. The beach was entirely packed. It just kept growing,” said Marge Brigadier, with The Harbor Seals of Pacific Grove.
Also growing is the number of sightseers heading to San Carlos Beach to catch a glimpse of the beach invaders.
23-year-old killed in Santa Cruz County head-on crash identified
“I've been close; I've seen them from up top, never like this, never. Something's going on,” said Josh Bourne, visiting from London.
According to the Marine Mammal Center, this is normal behavior for sea lions, and there’s no cause for concern. But why they chose that stretch of beach isn't so clear, the sea lions usually hang out near Fisherman's Wharf.
“We've had a few people say that they've never seen them come over here in this many numbers. This is definitely an odd thing to happen here,” said Patton.
“Why they went there two years ago and did it last year, and they're doing it this year (at San Carlos Beach), I don't know, but they will leave, I hope so; this will be the biggest mess in town,” added Brigadier.
“Can’t we all just get along?”
Is it because of global warming climate change, due to changes where they normally congregate?
You want to see a lot of sea lions? Just drive down the coast to the Piedras Blancas Rookery at San Simeon. Of course, you have to go way inland these days to get around the Hwy 1 slide. Or, if you are bicyclist, ignore the warnings and try to cross the slide with your bike...then wait patiently at the bottom for Search & Rescue to arrive.
Piedras Blancas Rookery
Seals, Sea Lions...what’s the difference?
Sea lions are social creature, seals are not.
Visited San Fran a while back. Took pictures of the seals lying on piers. Then took pictures of the drug addicted homeless nearby.
No difference.
I lived up on top of the ridge above Fisherman’s Wharf for a year. The constant barking of the sea lions and/or seals will drive you mad at first, then you get used to it and can’t even hear it.
I'm not sure. I'd love to have a coat made from each.
Sea lions have visible ears. Seals don’t.
It’s like the foghorn down at Princeton. We were there a couple weeks ago and it wasn’t sounding off. We thought “how weird.”
SF is a sanctuary city...I’ll bet they came from Mexico and Biden’s feeding them taxpayer-funded fish.
How much shit must be on the beach?
Wherever there’s a surplus of sea lions, the bumper crop of great white sharks can’t be far behind.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.