La Jolla Village Cove

Due to some people (you know who you are) who are broadband-challenged, I uploaded these images in small format so you wouldn't have any difficulty loading them. For full affect, please click on each image. After it opens, double click on the lower right corner and you'll get to see it enlarged. Really, it's better that way.

On Tuesday Apollo and I went to La Jolla Village Cove. Both of us had never been there. I didn't realize how close all the shops and businesses were to the ocean. I drove around the corner and there it was!

Here's the Cove when you first drive up from the North. I parked in the first spot available thinking parking would be tough. I was wrong. But, here's the view we saw. It was beautiful.


After walking quite a bit, we found some tide pools. Unfortunately, the tide was coming in so we didn't see much other than some crabs, sea anenomes and a couple fish. But he incoming tide was making a loud, splasy statement that demanded attention and respect.



I'm mesmerized by the ocean.

A silhouttte of a tourist taking in the scene. I've always felt the ocean is awe inspiring. It's one bit of Mother Nature Man has not been able to tame.

Just seconds after I took this photo, Apollo walked away and a big wave came in and washed over all the rocks you see here.

At this point, I really wanted to go swimming.

I thought this was so sweet, this couple had their small child (about four years old) take their photo. She was so small, you could tell the camera was too big for her too.

We smelled them before we saw them. It was like a thousand wet dogs creeped up on us but no...instead it was a bunch of seals sunning themselves on this rock. We watch as a baby seal tried to climb up on the rock and join the adults. The adults would have none of that. They were braying at the baby and trying to push it off with their flippers.

Just a bit further from the smelly dogs of the sea, we saw the infamous Children's Pool. The Children's Pool was built in 1931 with a grant from Ellen Browning Scripps as a sheltered swimming area for children. It has since been taken over by seals whom use the beach for pupping. The babies also hang out there as it's a safe location for them. They can safely play around in the water without worry from predators.

Part of the problem is all the fecal matter that builds up making the water toxic. Of course, there's always arguments from people who want to use the beach as originally intended and then arguments from environmentalists who think the seals should be left alone. After visiting the beach and seeing all the other beaches available to the public, I think this one should be left to the seals. It also helps to raise public awareness about seals.

These baby seals of varying size are pretty cute. Here they're trying to get brave enough to go up on the beach and join that other big fat adult seal that's burrowed itself in the sand (see lump to the left).

The teenage seals were the bravest and once one of them would wash itself up on the beach, others would soon follow. After they hurled themselves up, they would flop around until they got to their destination, which ended up not being near the sleeping seal.

The smallest were the last to get out of the water and rarely did they make it up to the others. This little guy was so cute. He wasn't quite brave enough to leave the safety of the wet sand.


Not all of them left the water though. Several stayed behind and continued playing in the water, much like otters. They flapped their tails on the water and generally caused a rucus. I realize it's hard to see, but if you click on the image you can see the splash one of them has made with his tail while flipping around in the water with a buddy.

After a while, we finally got smart enough to walk down and join the others who were watching the seals on the beach. The cool thing about this area is there's park benches at the top of the hill near the road. So if you're handicapped or have small children, you can sit there and watch the seals without missing out on much.

I really do love the image above. I love the shadows of all the people watching the animals. In the end you wonder, who's watching who?

Here they are of varying size and color. Some had more spots then other as obviously, they lose them as they get older. The funny thing about these guys is they would all congregate to one area but they didn't want anyone touching them or near them. They were constantly fighting, pawing at each other with their flippers, barking, rummaging around, etc, trying to get a good spot without someone else touching them or in their space. It was pretty funny.

Some scuba divers came over and entered the water - yes, the foul stinky water - and freaked out the seals. Once one seal entered the water, it was a domino affect and they all slinked in.

It's hard to see, but all the seals poked their heads out of the water and followed the divers who were over by the rocks. They didn't swim around and have fun but continued to curiously follow the divers.

This is also a nice shot that shows some of the buildings in La Jolla. It definitely is a beautiful place!