Animal Group Offered Marineland Site

A group that cares for sick and injured marine mammals will be able to move the animals away from the noisy flight path of Los Angeles International Airport and onto a more peaceful site overlooking the Pacific as soon as it can obtain the necessary city permits.

Developer James Monaghan announced Friday that he will let the group use the former Marineland site in Rancho Palos Verdes until a new marine mammal treatment center is built at the Upper Reservation of Ft. MacArthur in San Pedro.

The group, Organization for the Respect and Care of Animals of the Sea, has been caring for the critters in a converted horse trailer and recreational vehicle at Dockweiler State Beach. It plans to begin construction next spring on a $3-million center at Ft. MacArthur.

But the group wanted to move as soon as possible to a temporary home because planes taking off from Los Angeles International Airport fly directly over the Dockweiler site and the noise bothers the animals.

“We get the sounds about every 45 seconds of the planes going over at full thrust, and it’s extremely stressful for the animals,” ORCAS President Connie Lufkin Barr said.

She said the move will take place as soon as the group obtains a conditional-use permit from the city of Rancho Palos Verdes.

A city planning official said it usually takes two to three months to grant such a permit.

Last Tuesday, the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council turned down a request by ORCAS to place a temporary facility for the animals near City Hall. During the meeting, Councilman Robert E. Ryan suggested that the group ask Monaghan for permission to put the facility on the former Marineland site.

A first-aid station for marine mammals operated at Marineland until the attraction was closed in 1987.

Monaghan spokeswoman Joan Hanley said ORCAS will be allowed to move the trailer and other vehicles onto the site as soon as possible and hook up to electrical and water services free of charge.

“The whole idea is to make him a good guy for a change instead of the Big Bad Wolf,” she said, referring to Monaghan’s battle with city officials over his plan to put a major hotel development on the vacant site.

ORCAS has cared for about 100 sick and injured animals during the past 12 months, Barr said. The group cares for the animals temporarily until officials from Sea World in San Diego pick them up and take them to the aquatic park for treatment.