12 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY MAY 1-7, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com Imagine the kind of sleep you’d get if a construction crew set up shop near your house every night. You’d likely be grumpy, maybe stressed, especially if you were expected to perform your best at work. It’s not so different—but with higher stakes—for harbor seals at West Beach in Pacific Grove near Hopkins Marine Station, where researchers have been studying how noise impacts a declining population. During the 2022 pupping season, they found that nearby roadwork likely caused a sharp drop in births, significantly impacting a mother seal’s reproductive success. Researchers partnered closely with local community scientists from Bay Net, a naturalist program under the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Bay Net volunteers have tracked local harbor seal populations since around 2003, serving as the sanctuary’s eyes and ears along the Monterey Peninsula Recreational Trail. “We saw a lot of miscarriages and stillbirths during the [2022 pupping season],” says Ryan O’Conner, who led the study. He notes a sixfold increase in failed births. “High stress levels in any mammal can cause reproductive failures. The more time pregnant seals are awake and disturbed, the less healthy they are.” The study comes a year after the California Coastal Commission approved revised plans for a hotel at the American Tin Cannery, a few blocks from West Beach. The 222-room resort must incorporate input from local harbor seal groups, resource agencies and scientific experts. Mitigation measures include avoiding tree removal, pruning or chipping from Nov. 1 to July 31 to alleviate disruption during pupping season. Nocturnal animals, harbor seals feed at night and “haul out,” or sleep on the beach during the day, avoiding predators to rest and nurse in warmer environments that help them conserve energy. In the first weeks of nursing, mother seals can lose 25 to 30 percent of their body mass. Energy conservation is crucial, and local groups warn that every disruption adds up. “It’s death by a thousand cuts,” says Kim Akeman, a long-time Bay Net volunteer. Hopkins researchers remain hopeful that with strong science and community support, construction can be guided to better protect wildlife. “I’m hopeful for our harbor seal population,” says Giulio De Leo, a faculty member at Hopkins. “We have good data, great science, a municipality that’s listening, citizen scientists. Altogether, we’re well positioned to understand what’s needed to monitor this population moving forward.” It took over 14 years for the County of Monterey to pass a short-term rental ordinance last August. It took less than three months for the ordinance to be challenged in Monterey County Superior Court by the Monterey County Vacation Rental Alliance, claiming that by limiting the number of rentals to just 4 percent of inland unincorporated Monterey County, it was violating property owners’ constitutional rights and interfered with their ability to do business. The controversy has attracted a second lawsuit, as well as a citizen’s group petition to Monterey County Superior Court Judge Thomas Wills seeking to allow them to join the original suit as defendants alongside the county. In January, Fred H. Faltersack filed against the county, asking a judge to prevent enforcement of the ordinance, which went into effect in October. He claimed that when he invested in securing a short-term rental permit in 2023 for a property his trust owns in Carmel Valley he was promised the permit “in perpetuity.” The county’s ordinance, he argued, would deprive him of a vested right to continue to offer the property as a short-term rental. The county responded in court documents that Faltersack had no legal standing to challenge all provisions of the shortterm rental ordinance, only a seven-year extension provision related to his permit. County Counsel Susan Blitch asked Wills to declare Faltersack’s contentions invalid. Wills denied her request after a hearing on April 11. He also suggested during the hearing that Faltersack join MCVRA’s lawsuit. On April 25, lawyers for the county and MCVRA were in Wills’ courtroom for a hearing concerning a petition by the Carmel Valley Association, asking to be added as defendants. Wills denied the request, recommending the group file an amicus curiae, or friend of the court, brief in support of the county’s ordinance. The county and the MCVRA will be back in Wills’ courtroom on Tuesday, May 13. Safe Haven A new study reveals the impacts of noise on local harbor seals. By Katie Rodriguez NEWS CODE RED Supporting Indigenous Communities Group presents Red Dress Day, raising awareness of missing and murdered Indigenous people. This year’s event focuses on prevention by utilizing traditional native-Indigenous ways of mediation, reconciliation and healing. 11am-3:30pm Saturday, May 3. Oldemeyer Center, 986 Hilby Ave., Seaside. Free. (410) 443-1138 (text only), pendragon2@earthlink.net. SAFETY FIRST Big Sur Fire hosts an open house event to share resources and answer questions from the public. Fire apparatus, tools and equipment will be on display. Noon-3pm Sunday, May 4. Station 1 at Post Ranch, 47900 Highway 1, Big Sur. Free. 667-2113, bigsurfire.org. FUTURE FACILITIES Monterey Peninsula Unified School District is planning the future of its schools’ facilities. The public is invited to share feedback on the upcoming Facilities Master Plan. 5:30pm Monday, May 5 at Marina High School, 298 Patton Parkway, Marina. Thursday, May 8 at Seaside High School, 2200 Noche Buena St., Seaside. Monday, May 12 at Monterey High School, 101 Herrmann Drive, Monterey. Free. 645-1200, mpusd.net. PUBLIC SERVICE Salinas City Council meets and, as always, accepts public comment. Tell your elected officials what they are doing well and what you think they can do better. 4pm Tuesday, May 6. Salinas Rotunda, 200 Lincoln Ave., Salinas. Free. 7587381, cityofsalinas.org. COMMUNITY CHAT Ben Jealous, the former president and CEO of the NAACP and current executive director of the Sierra Club, speaks during an event hosted by York School’s Black Student Union. Jealous is a York alum. 6:30-8pm Thursday, May 8. York School, Gawain Family Outdoor Theater, 9501 York Road, Monterey. Free. 3727338, york.org. BOOSTING BUSINESS Applications for the second round of grant funding for Pajaro businesses affected by the 2023 flood are now being accepted. The program, administered by the Monterey County Workforce Development Board and Department of Emergency Management, provides funding for beautification projects. Applications accepted through May 16. Free. 796-3331, bit.ly/PajaroBizGrants. Vacation Rules People on both sides of the short-term rental issue seek to opt into a lawsuit against the county. By Pam Marino As of April 29, Bay Net volunteers have recorded 72 successful births of harbor seal pups so far this season on beaches along the Rec Trail in Pacific Grove. E-MAIL: toolbox@montereycountynow.com TOOLBOX “I’m hopeful for our harbor seal population.” DANIEL DREIFUSS
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