The yearly five-month closure of the La Jolla beach allows the harbor seals to give birth in peace.

If your La Jolla plans involve a visit to The Children’s Pool, be aware that you’ll have to admire the beauty from the concrete: The beach closes today, Dec 15, through May 15.

It’s an annual closure to protect the pregnant harbor seals as they prepare to give birth. The seals that normally share the beach in the summer need extra space and time to rest and put on weight before they deliver in a few weeks.

Seal pups are independent from their mothers after just a few weeks of nursing; this is different from the year-round closure of Point La Jolla further north, enacted to protect sea lions from human interaction as their pupping season is May through October but the pups stay with their mothers for a year or more.