Reserve Proposed for La Jolla’s Seals : Environment: City Council proposes to ban sightseeing, swimming and diving around Seal Rock area. Marine groups are opposed.

A City Council committee Wednesday recommended creating an ecological reserve off La Jolla Cove to protect seals from harassment by passersby.

Sightseeing, swimming and diving would be banned around the Cove’s Seal Rock area. The off-limits area is defined as 20 feet around the exposed rocks off South Coast Boulevard near Jenner Street.

The proposed reserve has split residents and beach-goers and is opposed by water enthusiasts, commercial fishing and diving groups, and some marine biologists. The La Jolla Town Council, an advisory body, also opposes the reserve.

At a hearing Wednesday, critics of the reserve said the number of seals using the area has increased in recent years, despite reports that people are frightening the animals away by throwing rocks or trying to pet them.

Some residents said existing regulations simply need to be enforced to protect marine life, and that the city lacks scientific data to identify the area as a major resting and breeding site for seals.

Mammals using the area include harbor seals, California sea lions and elephant seals. Seals are described as more sensitive to human disturbance, according to supporters of the reserve.

Researchers with the state Fish and Game Department recently discovered that, from Point Mugu south to the U.S.-Mexico border, Seal Rock is the only regularly used resting place on the mainland for the Pacific harbor seal.

The Public Facilities and Recreation Committee recommended Wednesday that signs be posted to discourage the public from disturbing the seals, and that a panel be established to operate the reserve.

The committee also proposed establishing a volunteer program to educate visitors about seals and other marine mammals in the area. The program would inform the public about existing laws protecting marine life.

Because of the lack of scientific data on the area, the committee proposed a study to determine whether Seal Rock is an important breeding and resting site.

Critics of the reserve said they were not surprised by the committee’s recommendations.

“Who can say no to a seal?” said Mike Yeakle, executive director of Sea Camp San Diego, a coastal recreation program for youth.

Lee Olsen, president of the San Diego Council of Divers Inc., said reserve proponents have dragged their feet on establishing docent programs and advocating stricter enforcement of existing laws. Educational and enforcement programs would make the reserve proposal unnecessary, Olsen said.

The committee, made up of council members Judy McCarty, Valerie Stallings, Tom Behr and John Hartley, recommended that the full council consider the reserve issue Dec. 8.

Chairwoman McCarty said she hoped the two sides would come together during planning for the reserve.

“I regret to hear this has become another political situation,” she said.