SAN DIEGO — Recent powerful waves brought down portions of the sea wall at the Children's Pool in La Jolla. We alerted the City of San Diego and now crews were seen inspecting the damage.
The Sierra Club Seal Society said because we made them aware of the sea wall repairs that are needed, they are going to contact the city and ask them to hold off on any work until after the seal pupping season is over.
The damage was caused by last week's king tides. Local photographers sent incredible images of the roaring waves crashing over the sea wall via the CBS 8 app using the Near Me feature. In some of the images, you can see the railing is still there, but Chopper 8 aerials on Thursday showed the railing was gone.
CBS 8 reported the damage Wednesday when we saw it posted to the city’s Get It Done app.
The city sent CBS 8 the following statement:
Staff from the Parks and Recreation Department examined the Children's Pool seawall and discovered a section of the railing to be missing. Preparation for repairs is now underway, but it is not yet known when they will be completed.
Thursday, city crews were out on the seawall taking a closer look at the damage.
The Children's Pool is closed for seal pupping season. Seals will give birth starting at the end of January and the season ends in May, which is when the Children's Pool will reopen.
The chairperson for the San Diego Sierra Club Seal Society said they hope the city will hold off any repairs.
“We believe there should always be access to try seawall when it's considered safe to be on it and safe for the seals as well,” said Robyn Davidoff. “What we are going for is the city would ease any kind of repairs until after pupping season. “
Davidoff says the seals are skittish and any construction would disrupt the seals and their pup’s survival rate, especially during an El Nino season.
Last year when a safety railing was knocked down in a storm, the city waited to replace it after pupping season.
The city says currently the seawall has been closed due to weather-related damages.
The seawall is historic. It was built nearly 100 years ago with the help of Ellen Browning Scripps to provide a wave-free shoreline for children, but it also protects the seals who were here before the seawall.
In 2022, a private engineer released a report that found repairs would cost $2.3 million.
The city has not said if it has approved funds to make major repairs to the seawall.
PHOTOS | Huge waves across San Diego coastline
Chopper 8 Aerials: Children's Pool La Jolla sea wall damage from strong waves | Above San Diego (Jan 4, 2024)