By COREY LEVITAN<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brigitte Noel sits on a portable chair on the rocks at La Jolla Cove, Sept. 19. She concentrates on a male and female sea lion surrounded by pups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lots of voices have chimed in on this hot-button La Jolla issue. One that\u2019s decidedly missing is that of the sea lions themselves. Noel, an animal psychic, agreed to try opening a channel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
What could it hurt?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Noel has an office in her Mission Hills home in which she sees troubled pets and their humans. She\u2019s worked as what she calls an animal \u201cclair-sentient\u201d for 23 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou have to totally respect what\u2019s coming from the animal and not try to change or edit it,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Noel says she grew up unaware of her telepathic ability because \u201cI thought people around me were perceiving everything I was, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brains communicate with the bodies they\u2019re encased in via a series of nerves. These are basically wires, Noel analogizes, and her communication is \u201clike wi-fi.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m plugging in to a frequency that\u2019s on a network,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Noel begins The Cove session by quieting her mind and using it to transmit an invitation to communicate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou have to zone in on one of them who\u2019s willing to do this,\u201d she explained beforehand. \u201cYou don\u2019t assume that they\u2019re just going to want to talk to you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One male sea lion sits up and barks almost immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Noel asks for his feelings about this place. If Noel can somehow convince the sea lions to relocate without having to be displaced, she could get a day named after her in La Jolla, parades, the works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Noel receives the first message and jots it in her notepad. They come not in words, she says, but in pure emotions that require translating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are home,\u201d she writes. \u201cWe are very happy and content. This is our home and it is a good home.\u201d Noel says she can\u2019t tell whether the message comes from one particular sea lion or a larger collective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why some folks want them to leave \u2026
The La Jolla coastline is the first on the Southern California mainland where sea lions have hauled out in significant numbers to demonstrate successful birthing and nursing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the good news. The bad is that a lack of water circulation due to The Cove\u2019s shape, combined with all the sea lion feces, got La Jolla Cove named the fifth most bacteria-ridden beach in the State by the environmental nonprofit Heal the Bay in July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two weeks ago, La Jolla Town Council president Ann Kerr Bache declared war on the La Jolla sea lion colony. \u201cThere\u2019s basically two choices,\u201d she said. \u201cMove and exclude the California sea lions according to legal, humane prescriptions of the Marine Animals Protections Act, or move and exclude recreational users of our waters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But back to the sea lions \u2026
Noel asks the sea lions if they can\u2019t possibly find somewhere else to live along the coast, since their presence here upsets the humans so much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t understand\u201d is the message this time. \u201cThis is our home. It is a good home.\u201d Oh, and there\u2019s a follow-up: \u201cWe can share. We are used to sharing. We share among us. Why can\u2019t we share with you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Relocation is non-negotiable to the sea lions, Noel explains, because the concept of claiming territory doesn\u2019t compute to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like the Native Americans we first encountered,\u201d Noel says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brigitte Noel Day in La Jolla is looking less and less likely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By COREY LEVITAN Brigitte Noel sits on a portable chair on the rocks at La Jolla Cove, Sept. 19. She concentrates on a male and female sea lion surrounded by pups. Lots of voices have chimed in on this hot-button La Jolla issue. One that\u2019s decidedly missing is that of the sea lions themselves. Noel, … <\/p>\n