NOAA investigates viral video of man kicking sea lion at La Jolla Cove

NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Law Enforcement said it is investigating reports of a social media video that allegedly shows an individual kicking a sea lion at La Jolla Cove in San Diego. The clip, which spread online this week, has put fresh attention on one of Southern California’s most crowded wildlife viewing spots and on the legal risks of harassing federally protected marine mammals.

Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, harassment of seals and sea lions is illegal, and NOAA Fisheries’ California sea lion species page and safe-viewing guidance both warn against disturbing them. The agency also tells the public never to feed or attempt to feed marine animals and to report injured or dead marine mammals to its hotline. In enforcement cases, NOAA can pursue civil administrative penalties or criminal action, but public interventions around coastal wildlife often begin with warnings or removals before they become courtroom fights.

La Jolla Cove has long been a flashpoint because sea lions draw thousands of tourists there every year. In July 2024, as the beach became even more popular, San Diego environmental groups pushed for a sea lion management plan, saying concerns were growing about people getting too close to wildlife. The La Jolla Cove Access Working Group later proposed a five-point plan that included scripts for tour guides and a designated viewing area to help keep people off the beach.

The pattern has repeated. In July 2023, beachgoers were being chased by sea lions at La Jolla Cove, and an expert said the animals are wild and need space. In February 2026, a tourist family was removed from the cove for harassing sea lions. Those episodes underscore how a heavily visited shoreline can turn routine encounters into repeated conflicts when people treat habituated wildlife like a spectacle.

The ecological stakes are not limited to one beach. Reuters reported in June 2023 that toxic algae was sickening sea lions and dolphins along the California coast, adding stress to animals already facing human pressure. NOAA Fisheries has also documented past human-caused injury and mortality to marine mammals in West Coast waters. That history gives added weight to a case like the one at La Jolla Cove, where a viral moment can reflect a larger enforcement gap: the law is clear, the coastline is crowded, and the consequences for pushing protected wildlife are still too rarely seen by the people who provoke them.