Wildlife Portrait Photography on Point La Jolla; Year-Round Closure Makes This a Thing of the Past

For many years I photographed wildlife on Point La Jolla, usually at sunrise.  I’m referring to the flat tabletop reef below the walkway to the west of La Jolla Cove. That was a prime ocean entry for divers, spearfishermen and bodysurfers (I used it for 30+ years to access the kelp beds). It also offered a perfect low angle to photograph various seabirds and California sea lions with a beautiful ocean background.  With a proper telephoto lens it was child’s play to make compelling portraits in warm, flat sunrise light at the subject’s eye level. That latter point is most important: one really wants to be on the subject’s eye level to create a personal connection with the subject.  My approach was to use the longest lens I had (generally 500mm or more) and stand way back from the animals, relying on the compression of the long focal length to make the subject pop off a defocused blue ocean backdrop.  The long lens ensured I did not disturb the animals as I was 100′ or more away from them, not moving nor making any sound.  I was typically the only person photographing and the sea lions and birds would go about their business. Making portraits was easy.  Check out  this unique image that could only be created from the vantage point of Alligator Head by friend and pinniped photographer Celia Kujala.

As the population of California sea lions occupying Point La Jolla increased over the past 10 years, and more and more births were taking place there in June, serious problems arose for the sea lions. Tourists with little understanding of how sensitive pinnipeds are to disturbance would encroach on their space, often literally touching them while trying to take selfies with them.  Most disturbing were the many instances where a young pup, perhaps just hours old, would be separated from its panicked mother by people who came too close. Some of these pups died, either due to stress or because they were abandoned by their mothers and eventually starved, all in the name of someone’s Instagram selfie.

A seasonal May-October closure of the reef flat (the area below the public walkway and wall) was implemented in 2022 specifically to protect sea lion pups and mothers, and the closure was extended to year-round in 2023.  As a result, more sea lions are now occupying the point than ever before — typically hundreds — and often large gatherings of California brown pelicans and royal terns are on the point as well. But the angles for photography are no good because one is shooting down on the subject as opposed to at eye level, at least compared to what we used to have in the past.  While the closure is a shame for those who have long accessed the ocean at Alligator Head, given that so many tourists could not resist getting up close to the sea lions something had to be done to protect them.  It’s a requirement of the MMPA, among other things. Giving up access to the point is a necessary cost to ensure the mothers and pups, who need as long as a year to be weaned, can remain as undisturbed as possible in a very busy and populous beach area.

Aerial Panoramic Photo of Point La Jolla at sunset, La Jolla and Mount Soledad. People enjoying the sunset on the sea wall looking at sea lions on the rocks. La Jolla Cove is at middle left. The Point, aka Alligator Head, is in the foreground with Boomer Beach at lower right. Ellen Browning Scripps Park is the large grass lawn, and the Children’s Pool where the harbor seal colony is located is at the extreme right.  Click it to go big.

Here are some of my favorite portraits, created out on Point La Jolla in years past.  The lighting was always perfect with the sunrise directly behind me, making for beautifully lit animals often with a catchlight in their eyes.  Images like these of the sea lions are no longer possible in La Jolla, and are now more difficult for the terns.  Cheers, and thanks for looking!