At the Library

Really bored right now...I'm at the library. I checked out a bunch of WHERE'S WALDO books.

Essay of Doom...

My essay is about California harbor seals at the La Jolla Children's Pool


Humans vs. Pinnipeds

Between the sea wall and rocky cliffs, seals stretch out on the sandy shore to rest. People that are standing on the cliffs are able to feel the light sea breeze and enjoy the open ocean view. Some are standing on the sea wall peering down at the round and lazy seals. Several other visitors are scuba diving, swimming, snorkeling, or just wading in the shallow water. When the people swim close to the shore or when children play on the sand near the tide, the seals become alert, and squirm away with panic, back into the safety of deep ocean water. Their rest has been disturbed, and some pups become separated from their mothers. These poor seals are occasionally forced out of their home, and must wait for the ignorant people to leave. Is it fair for the seals to be driven away so frequently, or should they be allowed to stay and thrive in peace? I believe the innocent seals have the right to continue living in Casa Beach. The seals deserve to stay at the Children's Pool in La Jolla (Casa Beach). The reason why the California harbor seals should stay is that they need to haul out on beaches to rest. As English philosopher John Locke said, "All people have certain natural rights, which are rights that belong to every human being from birth." One of those rights includes life. Since humans have the right to live, why can't seals have it too? Hauling out is necessary for survival, just like how sleeping is necessary for humans. Seals should have the right to haul out on the beaches of their choice. If humans took away this beach and dredged the sand, then they would be violating the seals' natural rights. Seals would then have to migrate to Carpinteria, the closest major rookery, which is 117 miles north. Another reason why the harbor seals should stand their ground at Casa Beach is that they were already there in 1887, long before people started using the area for recreation. Because of this, seals should be able to stay. It would be unfair for humans to take their land away. Harbor seals began using the beach as a haul-out site after Ellen Browning Scripps built the sea wall in 1931 because of how simple it was to get on land. Soon after she built it, the area began to fill in with sand. By the 1970's, the pool was a small sandy beach with smooth access and protection from dangerous rip currents. Other than seals having a right to haul out and that they were in La Jolla first, there are other reasons as well. One of those reasons is Harbor seals help the environment. Though there is a high presence of fecal coliform bacteria produced when seals are present, the amount of bacteria returns to normal when the seals leave. According to the County Health Department, no human illness has ever been reported by people swimming in water showing high seal coliform counts. Seal feces are quickly and naturally absorbed as nutrients into kelp beds, helping many species of animals flourish, resulting in a rich near shore ecosystem, providing fish both for seals and for human sport. For the most part, over half of the tourists that come to La Jolla believe that putting up a rope barrier stretching from the sea wall to the cliffs is unreasonable. I also feel it is unreasonable. It blocks off a major site that seals require for giving birth and nesting. Think of it this way: is it right for the door to be locked at your local hospital when you need it? The Children's Pool is like the seals' hospital. Seal need it at certain times, just like humans need their hospital at certain times too, so it's wrong to keep the seals at bay with any type of barrier. A number of people oppose having the seals at La Jolla Children's Pool. One pro human peron says seals are bad for business. This is untrue. In fact, the seals actually attract approximately 80,000 people each month. 80% of those visitors support the seals. One of those visitors, Matt Hough, says, "If the seals stay, they stay. There's tons of shoreline here. Really, there are safer places for kids to swim." The California coastline is 500 miles long with 8 other beaches in La Jolla for children to swim in. People can swim in those beaches instead. Lastly, do not damage or hurt the economy in any way. In fact, the visitors who come to La Jolla to watch the seals spend money in La Jolla restaurants, hotels, and shops, thus helping the economy. Some others say that Ellen Browning Scripps would not want the seals at Casa Beach. The truth is, Ellen Browning Scripps was a naturalist and an environmentalist. The Natural Resources and Culture Committee has interviewed her family members and friends. They say that she would want the seals to stay. Ms. Scripps believes the colony of seals is a natural blessing to us. We can study them to learn more about life in the wild. The San Diego City Government says that seals attract white sharks, which admittedly, is true. White sharks have been essential in the food chain by keeping seals from overpopulation. The white sharks have attacked very few people. For example, in the Mediterranean Sea, there were 31 confirmed attacks against humans in the last two centuries, with a small number of them fatal. Fatal attacks were usually from loss of blood than from the damaging of an organ. Researchers have found out that sharks do not like the taste of human flesh. Biologist Douglas Long records that in most attacks, white sharks have broken off after the first contact. Almost all of the accidents have taken place in murky waters. Because of the bad eyesight of sharks, humans would often be confused with dolphins and other prey animals. It is mainly the humans' fault for swimming in unsafe waters. If humans stay away from clouded waters, then less people would get hurt. In conclusion, seals should stay at Casa Beach. These seals are no doubt an amazing species of wildlife. It is a gift to us for them to go on settling at La Jolla Children's Pool. This is the seals' natural home. They truly are worthy of staying, like their ancestors and those before them.. It is a violation of their own rights to move them away. Though many are still undecided, I believe the seals should stay.

OMG

Wow...I haven't posted anything for a while. Why are guys perverted? It's kinda weird...All the guys in my school are perverted, and all they talk is about girls...maybe I'm just immature.

Mile

Ugh.. still have a suckish mile time. I ran a mile in 6 minutes and 40 seconds. My friends *cough* *cough* *Kimberly* says it's good, but a buch of guys are better. I'm too slow...pessimist.