Along the California coastline, marine mammal harassment has risen in recent years, according to The Marine Mammal Center.
The Marine Mammal Center’s response range is 600 miles along the California coast, stretching from the northern part of Mendocino County to the southern border of San Luis Obispo County.
“All year round, we are seeing these harassments and getting reports of harassments of marine mammals,” said Aliah Meza, The Marine Mammal Center's San Luis Obispo Operations Manager.
According to the rescue group, in 2023, 30 percent of all animals rescued by the center experienced some form of harassment, up from 25 percent in 2022. While the harassment numbers dropped by five percent for San Luis Obispo County, it ranked third in terms of overall harassment cases at 27 and tied for first for severe harassment cases with eight.
The center says one hotspot for crowding is Morro Strand State Beach.
“There’s folks getting too close, there’s physical touching and there’s the actual separating the young pup potentially from its mother,” said Giancarlo Rulli, The Marine Mammal Center spokesperson.
Rulli says they have two ways to determine whether an animal has been harassed.
“One, it’s our trained responders that are heading out to the scene and are actually seeing this type of harassment and the other are very detailed reports that we’ll get from members of the public calling the hotline where they’re describing the action,” Rulli said.
With new data from beach and online surveys, the organization has identified two key groups of people responsible for harassing the animals.
“One is the 'wildlife protector' which tends to trend female, local, that are super passionate about marine mammals but are just taking the wrong action. The other archetype is what we’re calling the 'adventure seeker.' That’s someone that typically is in town, a tourist for four to five days, and heavily influenced by what they are seeing on social media, and they tend to trend male,” Rulli said.
The Marine Mammal Center is now focusing on outreach by engaging with the local community.
“Whether it’s restaurants, whether it’s water sports businesses right on the water, we want to be able to provide any necessary collateral, material messaging to help them feel comfortable in relaying this message to, especially, tourists that are in the area for four to five days,” Rulli said.
The Marine Mammal Protection Act protects all marine mammals. It is illegal to harass marine mammals and if prosecuted, violators can be fined or face imprisonment.
To report a sick or injured marine mammal, call 415-289-7325.
The Marine Mammal Center is always looking for more volunteers. For more information on how to get involved, click here.
