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A different Animal altogether.
Children's Pool is full of Harbor Seals, not Sea Lions. Although you probably can't tell the difference by the smell. I would agree that turning that man made cove into a sanctuary is just as bad as rehabilitating all sick Sea Lions. In both cases they are aiding overpopulation which is never good for the ecosystem.
As far as fishing goes, they are very far apart on the nuisance meter. You are rarely going to have a Harbor Seal take your bait. And, I have not heard of or experienced any aggressive behavior from them.
I would bet that the reason San Diego is able to rehab more sea life than any other county would be the presence of Sea World's rehab facilities. Most other counties have to rely on their under-funded, under-staffed and under-trained animal control officers. Personally, I don't hold anything against Sea World. They do some great work in saving and rehabilitating other, more likeable, marine mamals. I also agree that we should intervene, if we can, in human caused animal ailments, even in Sea Lions.
The supposed collapse of the Sardine population (probably brought to you by the MLPA scientists) was blown way out of proportion also. There is lots of other inshore bait fish all over the South Coast. Even with tons of bait fish, there are lots of Sea Lions, mostly young ones, dying in the Redondo area. Probably for the same reason that we must get burned to learn. After a few good Squid years, there are also a lot of new Sea Lion mothers too.
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