Pros and Cons

Friday, June 9, 2006 | I was at the Children’s Pool in La Jolla talking to one of the lifeguards when a woman approached us and asked why the city of San Diego was not protecting the endangered harbor seals at the only rookery in Southern California. The lifeguard asked the woman where she got her information and she told him the seal advocates at their merchandising table informed her.

The lifeguard proceeded to tell the woman that the harbor seals are not endangered and the National Marine Fisheries Service has given the city of San Diego permission to deter the seals from the beach under a clause in the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act. When the woman heard this she was furious and stated that she had given the seal advocates a $20 donation to help them protect the seals at the Children’s Pool. Before she left she said that old saying was right about a sucker being born every minute and she had just been taken by con artists posing as environmentalists.