A judge ruled Friday that harbor seals that have colonized the cove in La Jolla for more than a decade can remain there. That overruled an earlier decision to have the city remove the seals because their waste bacteria was dangerous for humans.
San Diego County Superior Court Judge Timothy Taylor ruled that a state law signed by the governor in July will allow the cove to be designated as a marine park starting Jan. 1, and that there is no reason to evict the animals before then. The move finalized a tentative ruling Taylor made Thursday.
"Today's decision means that the issue can now be decided by the City Council and mayor the way public policy issues are supposed to be decided," Deputy City Attorney George Schaefer said.
Seals began moving into the cove in the 1990s, setting off a long legal scrap between advocates for animals and kids.
Philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps donated the area - an artificial cove created by a seawall built in 1931
- to the state, and it's governed by the city under a state trust. It was used for years as a children's swimming hole.
In 1997 after the seal population surged, the city posted a warning that swimmers should avoid the water because of bacterial contamination.
Few people now brave the waters - or the seals, whose population can be as high as 200 at times.
But in 2004, a swimmer sued the city. Valerie O'Sullivan argued that letting seals linger at the cove violated terms of the state trust, which specified the area could be used as a park or children's beach.
In 2005, a judge ordered the city to remove the seals and clean up their mess.
