The New York Times checked in with the La Jolla seal saga in a story today. It’s a familiar tale to San Diegans: the seals that call Children’s Pool home. So what do we learn from this story?

The seals smell bad. And they’re litigious.

Here’s a glimpse at what the NYT has to say:

It is generally agreed that the intruders, being harbor seals and all, are cute, and that they do not seem to be going anywhere. But their antics – including females giving birth right there on the sand – are driving some people crazy. And into court.

“It was kind of a family beach,” said Valerie O’Sullivan, an avid swimmer who filed a lawsuit against the city in 2004 to restore the beach for human use. “This isn’t the only place for the seals. There are plenty of seals up and down the coast.”

Seals are not ideal beach companions for humans, with the partly eaten fish, the feces and the wild smell that accompanies them.

But still, tourists flock to a breakwater that allows observers a slightly elevated view just a few yards from the seals.

Check out the story here.

ROB DAVIS

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