The Children’s Pool in La Jolla is once again open for human beach access, following the end of seal pupping season.

Just in time for summer, The Children’s Pool beach is open to La Jolla residents and visitors as of May 15.

The beach had been closed, per annual regulation, since Dec 15 to ensure the safety of the harbor seals during their pupping season.

The chains across the stairs have been removed, but a rope across much of the beach will remain to encourage people to maintain a safe distance from the harbor seals that still haul out to rest on the sand.

The Children’s Pool, also called Casa Beach, was created and dedicated in 1931 by La Jolla philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps, following her gift to fund the construction of a sea wall protecting the sand from large waves.

For several years, however, the beach has been closed seasonally for the harbor seals, though it’s not only seals who take refuge on the empty beach, according to wildlife advocate Azi Sharif.

Image courtesy of Azi Sharif/Wildlife Jewels

The May 15 reopening of The Children’s Pool occurs during the western gull nesting season and Sharif is worried about what that means for the survival of the gulls this season. 

Last season, Sharif’s organization, Wildlife Jewels, documented “significant nesting activity and visitor-wildlife interactions” at The Children’s Pool, Sharif said, including the destruction of several eggs.

Sharif is urging beachgoers to be aware that eggs and chicks may be present on the sand in high foot-traffic areas.