I’ve been spotting California sea lion and harbor seal pups lately around beaches from Fields Landing to Crescent City, California. As adorable as they look, it’s not a good sign that they mingle so closely with people. Being so young, they are very trustworthy and the Crescent City-based Marine Mammal Rescue Center has been busy capturing and rehabilitating them. Last week, I almost tripped over a sleeping harbor seal pup on a beach in Trinidad. He was so out of it, sleeping in the sun on warm sand that if I didn’t look down at the last moment, I would’ve stepped on him. As a California Fish and Game employee, I have no enforcement or jurisdiction over any people – marine mammal interactions, but have found it effective to use my badge to keep tourists from cutting the pups’ access to water and preventing people from touching (!) them.
