![\"Sea](\"https:\/\/www.ecowatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/sea-lions-san-carlos-beach-768x512.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>According to Marge Brigadier, an MBNMS Bay Net program volunteer, the sea lions are protected under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. The law prohibits people from interfering with the sea lions\u2019 behavior by getting too close to them or forcing them to flee, for example.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople just need to think about how they would feel if they were resting on their bed taking a nap and something big kept coming and chasing them out of the house,\u201d Brigadier said.<\/p>\n
The primarily male group travels from the Channel Islands each year, usually stopping along adjacent beaches to feed and rest, the Los Angeles Times reported. However, Huelga said, this journey brought them to San Carlos Beach.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey migrate up here down from Ventura and the Channel Islands\u2026 They are incredibly mobile. They\u2019re usually chasing the food and because Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is so productive out here, the productivity is really rich,\u201d Uttal explained, as reported by Reuters.<\/p>\n
The area is a scuba divers\u2019 hangout, and this year\u2019s pinniped party also happened to be at the same time as Monterey Car Week \u2014 a luxury car and motorsport event.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was traffic gridlock with streams of exotic cars revving their engines and backfiring. With each loud pop the sea lions would begin to bolt towards the ocean,\u201d Stephen Pacetti wrote on the Monterey Bay Area Scuba Divers Open Facebook group, as the San Francisco Chronicle reported. \u201cCar Week in Monterey is not consistent with the Marine Mammal Protection Act.\u201d<\/p>\n
Uttal said MBNMS volunteers have been talking with people about how important it is to give the sea lions their space, both for the protection of the animals and their own.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think the scuba divers know that they\u2019re breaking a federal law if they get too close. It\u2019s also a safety issue,\u201d Uttal said. \u201cUnlike the harbor seals that lug along on the beach, these guys have pectoral fins and they can rise up on them and move if they need to.\u201d<\/p>\n
San Carlos Beach is situated in the tourist center of Monterey, on Cannery Row\u2019s west end.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease, please let these beautiful, cacophonous, naturally-perfumed creatures do their thing and you do yours elsewhere,\u201d diver Suzanne E. Frey said on social media, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.<\/p>\n