Les phoques dérangés et stressés par les touristes...

[Animal 0]

Cet article prouve que les phoques sont stressés par la présence des touristes... Aux Iles de la Madeleine et à Terre-Neuve, les autorités affirment que ça ne les dérangent pas... On comprend que c'est le moindre de leur souci, puisqu'aussitôt que les touristes retournent chez eux, les phoques sont massacrés par centaines de milliers !!!!! :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:


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Volunteers line up to sequester seals

Pinniped population dips at Children's Pool
By Terry Rodgers
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
January 26, 2005



NANCEE E. LEWIS / Union-Tribune
Volunteers, such as Andrea Hahn, were staffing signs and a line raked in the sand at Children's Pool in La Jolla recently to keep visitors from disturbing harbor seals that frequent the beach.

Protectors of La Jolla's famous harbor seal colony have literally drawn a line in the sand to keep the public from the easily spooked marine mammals.

"Rake a line, hold a sign" is the name they've given to a volunteer-run program intended to give the skittish seals at Children's Pool beach some space.

From dawn to dusk, volunteers take turns holding signs urging the public to watch the wild animals from a distance. Using a wooden rake, they etch a 20-inch-wide line in the sand across the crescent-shaped cove.

"This is an emergency, labor-intensive effort, and it's not nearly enough," said James Hudnall, a La Jolla retiree who works the morning shift. The effort became necessary because the seals are showing signs of stress from being repeatedly frightened and flushed into the water, Hudnall said.

The colony, which once numbered about 200, has dwindled to less than 90 seals. In recent weeks, seven baby seals have died after being born prematurely, he said.

According to a Web site maintained by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the mortality rate for young seals, including those born after reaching their full term, can be as high as 50 percent. The cove, which is shielded from the pounding surf by a concrete sea wall built in the 1930s, used to be more of a safe haven for seals. The pinnipeds were protected from human intruders by signs and a rope barrier that was erected in 1999.



NANCEE E. LEWIS / Union-Tribune
A man and a boy visited Children's Pool, where volunteers are raking a line in the sand to give harbor seals some space. Volunteers say the seals are showing signs of stress.

In September, the San Diego City Council adopted a "joint use" policy that allows people equal access to share the cove with the seals. The council's action was prompted by complaints the seals were becoming too numerous and fouling the water and shoreline with their waste. To encourage more public use, the city removed the rope and reduced the number of signs on the beach.

As more people began using the cove to swim, dive and sunbathe, they were confronted by activists who believe the seal colony is unique and should have priority.

Arguments broke out on the beach. A few escalated into shoving matches. Last year, police responded to 58 disturbances at the cove. Two-thirds of those occurred after the council ordered the rope barrier removed.

Animal-rights activists complain they've been harassed by police, who have threatened them with arrest and confiscated signs and traffic cones used to keep people away from the seals. The harassment allegations coincided with police efforts to enforce the city code, which prohibits signs from being posted on the beaches.

"The police are making it hard for activists to exercise their simple civil rights," said Jane Cartmill of San Diego Animal Advocates.


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"I have to believe this is all orchestrated," she said. "The city doesn't want the seals there and they don't want the seal activists there, either. Anyone trying to interfere with that is going to be treated harshly."

Lt. Dan Christman of the Police Department's Northern Division said his officers have been encouraged to be fair and neutral when responding to disputes at Children's Pool.

"We're trying to keep the peace and make sure everyone's rights are protected," he said. "Our whole intent is to maintain a middle ground. The fact is, there are very strong feelings on both sides."

Officers have been given written guidelines that say signs can be displayed as long as the sign-holder stays close to it and doesn't post it in the ground. Unattended signs can be seized. Repeat offenders can be ticketed.

Christman acknowledged the ongoing dispute has tested officers' patience.

"The frustrating part is some of the pettiness that occurs," he said.

Police will respond to reports of animal cruelty, but they do not enforce the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Under federal law, any action that causes resting seals to flee into the water is considered harassment.
(C'EST CE QUE LES MAMANS PHOQUES DU GROENLAND FONT... ELLES RESTENT SOUS L'EAU ET S'EMPÊCHENT DE NOURRIR LEUR PETIT SUR LA BANQUISE, PENDANT QUE LES TOURISTES, S'AMUSENT AVEC LEURS BLANCHONS... ) Scientists with the National Marine Fisheries Service have urged the city to temporarily reinstate the rope to promote a calmer atmosphere and allow the seals to have a successful birthing season, which runs from January to July.

If disturbed too often, harbor seals have been known to abandon favorite sites or their pups.

City officials say they will consider the scientists' request once they have received it in writing.

In the meantime, a parade of volunteers will work on behalf of the seals.

Previous tactics by seal advocates were too confrontational, said Hudnall, who has urged volunteers to be more civil toward beachgoers who ignore the signs and cross the line.

Beachgoers who previously were forced to run a gauntlet of jeers and sneers are getting less flak from seal activists, said John Steel, a retired doctor who regularly swims at Children's Pool.

"It's still an obnoxious situation, but not as bad as it was," said Steel, who has also noticed that the number of seals has declined.

Like others who favor the "shared use" concept, he's annoyed by the constant presence of the seal protectors.

"You can't cordon off a beach with that nonsense," he said. "The protesters want people off the beach permanently."

The less-aggressive approach now being employed by seal advocates "is a more effective way of educating the public as to the situation at Children's Pool beach," said Michelle Zetwo, a special agent for NOAA, which enforces the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Despite the slight reduction in tension, Zetwo said her agency continues to receive a steady number of calls to its marine mammal harassment hotline related to Children's Pool.

Hudnall said the daytime vigil is only partially effective. He finds numerous footprints inside the line in the sand when he arrives at daybreak.

"When we go home, it all goes to hell," he said.

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Citation :

On comprend que c'est le moindre de leur souci

Effectivement. Tout ce qui leur importe c'est l'argent procuré par le tourisme et ensuite celui procuré par la chasse et ils se disent qu'il y en aura d'autres l'année suivante.