LA JOLLA – Back in 2016, foul smells from wildlife excrement at La Jolla Cove prompted authorities to spray environmentally safe bacterial “odor eaters” to cleanse the cliffs and stave off the stench.
Nine years later, the noxious problem, caused by bird guano and pinniped waste during summer, has returned. In actuality, for those in “harm’s way” in La Jolla Village upwind, the stench never actually left.
“The spraying only happened a few times about three mayors ago,” said Megan Heine, co-owner along with husband Dave, of Brockton Villa, 1235 Coast Blvd., on the cliffs above the Cove. She noted recently, “The odors, caused primarily by bird guano on the rocks, remain as their population has increased. Some days are better than others. At Brockton Villa, we use ‘scent air’ fans to mitigate any odor so people don’t complain once they’re in our restaurant.”
Added Heine: “We haven’t heard of any further effort by the city to address this. Meanwhile, the ongoing battle of pinniped versus people access (at the Cove) continues.”
Nearly a decade ago, the city’s answer for foul fumes at the Cove was to employ an environmentally safe product, a foamy mixture of bacillus bacteria, described as microbial “Scrubbing Bubbles,” to counteract the guano buildup from gulls and cormorants. The stench had become so bad it drew national attention and local outrage, especially from La Jolla restaurateurs and the La Jolla Village Merchants Association representing them.
At that time, the city received a flurry of pitches for products and procedures, mostly “biologically based cleaners,” from a multitude of sources offering alternative options for alleviating the offensive smell. Those options extended from proposals to power-wash the cliffs to installing spikes or tarps to bar wildlife from roosting on the rocks. One option went so far as to call for employing a natural predator – trained falcons – to scare the birds away.
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But there was a huge hurdle to be cleared by any product ultimately selected to curb the stench: It had to be environmentally safe to prevent runoff from cleansing the cliffs and contaminating the ocean below.
Ultimately, Blue Eagle, a San Rafael-based firm that uses a mix of bacillus bacteria to consume the bird droppings, was chosen as the best alternative for cleansing the Cove’s rocks. The bacteria were selected for their safety and effectiveness in digesting bird droppings through a natural process, where organisms generate energy by breaking down food and releasing carbon dioxide and water.
And it worked, at least partly, for a time, and while it lasted.
But the city confirmed recently that time has long since passed.
“The city has long worked to address persistent odor concerns at the La Jolla bluffs, which are caused by natural accumulations of seabird and marine mammal waste,” said Benny Cartwright, supervising city spokesperson. “In previous years, the city applied an organic, enzyme-based treatment derived from naturally occurring ocean bacteria to targeted areas as part of a successful odor mitigation strategy. The treatment uses beneficial microbes to accelerate the natural breakdown of bird and marine mammal waste, effectively reducing odors while posing no known risk to wildlife or water quality.”
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But Cartwright pointed out that it ended in 2023.
“The use of this treatment was paused following communications from the Regional Water Quality Control Board, which requested additional information for further evaluation,” he said. “While those communications have since been addressed, the city continues to pursue the additional internal review and approvals to resume spraying in the future.
“Any future application would continue to be guided by established best management practices, including avoidance of application during or near the presence of marine mammals using on-site biological monitoring, and implementation only under appropriate weather and tide conditions,” Cartwright said.
“The next steps would depend on ongoing discussions with regulatory agencies, as well as internal assessments of environmental and operational considerations,” he added.
