La Jolla Light
Enlightening La Jolla Since 1913
Vol. 100, Issue 29 • July 19, 2012
Residential Customer La Jolla, CA 92037 ECRWSS PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID SAN DIEGO, CA PERMIT NO. 1980
Online Daily at www.lajollalight.com
INSIDE
Why all the leopard sharks in La Jolla?A3 Visitors from around the world come to La Jolla to view the seal colony at Children’s Pool.
Photos by Pat Sherman
Roped In
Coastal Commission approves all-year barrier at Children’s Pool Haute Nights event set for Saturday, A16
Troy Whisenant and his son, Josh, of Gilbert, Ariz., watch a harem of seals a considerable distance from them on July 13.
n Panel blasts activists’ unruly behavior n Installation pending yet another city permit
Seal advocates gather as Dr. Jane Reldan of the La Jolla Friends of the Seals speaks with media prior to the Coastal Commission hearing.
What you need to know about the London Olympics, A20
See story on A6
John Leek, secretary of the San Diego Council of Divers, spoke in opposition to the year-round seal rope at the July 11 hearing.
Missing tortoise returns home with no tale to tell
Historical Society renovation project is rocky at best, B1
Silver isn’t talking about his big adventure.
BY SHELLI DEROBERTIS When the Dykstra family’s desert tortoise was discovered missing from their yard on Linda Rosa Avenue June 22 after they returned from vacation, Theodore Dykstra, 12, moved at a hare’s pace to pass out fliers to help find his family’s lost pet, which is about 9-inches wide. He and a friend went door-todoor and throughout the neighborhood, but no one had
Charles W. Hartford, CSNA Financial Advisor PIA Program Portfolio Advisor
(858) 456-3649 http://fa.ml.com/charles_hartford
seen the tortoise, said Theodore’s mother, Michelle Dykstra. But then a surprise came on June 26. “Four days later, Silver was found sitting in the middle of the driveway,” she said. The Dykstra family owns four tortoises, and Silver is one of two California Desert Tortoises they care for, along with a pair of a larger tortoise species, the African Sulcata. According to Michelle, the
Merrill Lynch 7825 Fay Avenue, Suite 300 La Jolla, CA 92037
Merrill Lynch Wealth Management makes available products and services offered by Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, a registered broker-dealer and member SIPC, and other subsidiaries of Bank of America Corporation. © 2011 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved. 253914 | ARD6Z4V1-12-11 | Code 457110PM-1211
desert tortoises were found abandoned four years ago in a vacant rental house in City Heights. Someone who knew that the Dykstra’s already had two tortoises thought they might be interested in rescuing the homeless reptiles. “They brought us these two cute California Desert Tortoises,” Michelle said, adding that she
SEE TORTOISE, A5