Let ‘progress’ and sea lions coexist

I want to thank Lise Slack of Costa Mesa for the letter she wrote in defense of the sea lions (“Roll out the welcome mat for Newport Harbor’s seal lions,” Jan 25), and I want her to know that she is not alone in her opinions. I agree with her.

I have stated my opinion in the Pilot before, and I am continually appalled by the controversy surrounding the presence of the sea lions in our (their) harbor.

Are we so far up on a pedestal?

Are we so far better than the living creatures that were here in their home long before man arrived?

Human beings, continuing development and “progress” have destroyed what used to be a very wonderful environment here. The hills are ablaze with scars of our impeding developments. This leads to overcrowding; crime; crime that claims lives; traffic; traffic accidents that claim lives; pollution; and the general garbage that we humans bring.

I am not so naive to think this can never happen, and I know things can never be the same. Progress comes with the territory, but to now vent anger over the presence of sea lions in the water? Come on. Are there no more important issues to focus on.

Move if you don’t like it.

If you are going to dock your boat in the harbor, why not do everyone a favor and spend a little more time cleaning your boat and taking care of it?

f you are mooring your boat, why not go down a little more often and spruce it up?

In my 40-plus years of growing up in the water and living on the water or near the water in Corona Del Mar, Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, I am continually disappointed in Newport Beach for not being more stringent on the mooring laws. There are boats that have been moored in the same spot for seemingly forever, and I think abandoned as well. I am disappointed in the state and our federal governments for letting the waters around our beaches deteriorate to junk. Maybe if the boats and the waters were cleaner and a little more free of our pollution, the sea lions would not have to come into the harbor for food.

Learn to live with the sea lions as we should. Learn to live with our environment as we live with your barking dogs.

Slack was right. Though it might be a trite phrase, it is so true: “Cant we just all get along?”

And this should include the sea lions and all the creatures in our environment.

Learn to live with your fellow man. It shouldn’t be this difficult.

RALPH E. ROLLINS

Costa Mesa