Carpinteria Committee Recommends Closing Access to Harbor Seal Rookery for Three Years

By Callie Fausey Mon Dec 30, 2024 | 12:05pm

A Carpinteria committee thinks that the city’s harbor seals should have year-round peace.

Right before the holidays, the Carpinteria Ad Hoc Harbor Seal Advisory committee voted to recommend to the City Council a three-year closure of the 1,500-foot stretch of Carpinteria State Beach that makes up the Harbor Seal Rookery.

These resident seals are in no way endangered — they are listed as “least concern” by the Environmental Protection Agency — but volunteer seal watchers insist the population in Carpinteria is declining.

According to data from Carpinteria Seal Watch, adult seals have decreased from 365 adults in 2004 to 158 adults in 2023.

The curious creatures deserve to feel safe and relaxed, they argue, and, considering the rookery acts as a popular attraction for both residents and tourists, the city should be invested in protecting it.

“Harbor seals require that 50 percent of their time be spent on the beach,” according to a document prepared by committee members. “It is impossible to attain this degree of rest when there are people and dogs crawling over the rookery rocks and the beach.”

This closure, should it be accepted by the City Council in January and approved by the California Coastal Commission, would be a kind of test. The hypothesis is, essentially, “If the rookery is closed to humans, then seal numbers will rebound.” It’s a “remove people and see what happens” process, in the words of committee member Andrew Brooks.

While the committee acknowledged that the potential causes of declining seal numbers are diverse, such as food scarcity, sonic booms, reduced kelp beds, and ocean warming, members proposed that humans and dogs are primarily to blame for seal disturbances.

Disturbances include events — such as off-leash canine antagonists — that cause the “skittish” seals to act alert or flush into the water, leading to stress, nursing interruptions, and separation between moms and pups.

Committee members hope that closing the beach year-round will reduce the seals’ baseline stress, making them more resilient to other disturbances — like potential hotel development on the bluffs and rocket launches.

Rocket launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base have been shown to make the seals frantic and flush. Committee members argue that with SpaceX looking to significantly increase its number of launches per year, the seals can use all the R&R they can get.

Members of the public showed up to the committee’s final meeting on December 19, with a majority in support of the closure.

A closure “just makes sense,” in the words of one public commenter, who said it would also be good for other animals, such as birds who nest and hang out on the beach.

The current, partial closure — the rookery is closed from December 1 to May 31 for pupping season — is “confusing for the public,” he said, adding, “I don’t think people pay much attention to anything.”

But not everyone is convinced. Questions swirled around the realistic efficacy of such a long closure, as well as logistics such as enforcement and related costs. The rookery currently has no budget or year-round monitoring. Any monitoring is done by volunteers.

“I’m not in support of closing the beach unless there’s a good plan in place without wasting resources,” said another commenter.

The committee voted 5-2 in favor of recommending a closure. Kathleen Lord was one member in opposition, arguing that closing the beach for pupping season has done well to protect the abundance of seals, and that any decline in numbers is likely to be regional, due to factors such as habitat degradation, rather than limited to Carpinteria. More comprehensive data is needed before making such a decision, she added.

Personally, she said, she’s seen fishermen hang out near the seals, who did not appear anxious. And what about other potential factors? Are they not going to pursue further study on other causes of decline or help restore kelp beds?

“Is this closure a distraction from what we should be doing?” She asked. “It’d be hard to implement a closure.”

Carpinteria Vice Mayor Monica Solorzano agreed. “A closure won’t fix everything,” she said. In January, the city’s Parks & Recreation Director Jeanette Gant will present the committee’s final recommendations to the City Council, which also included updating signage, and installing cameras if funding becomes available. From there, the council will direct city staff on next steps. But if they do decide a closure is warranted, it’ll have to go through the California Coastal Commission, which is a notoriously “tough nut to crack,” in the words of veteran seal watcher Fred Shaw.