Seal Abuse Causes Beach Shutdown: CCTV

San Diego's mayor has ordered a two-month overnight shutdown of a beach after cameras caught people apparently abusing a colony of seals.

The CCTV system was set up to allow the public to monitor mothers and their pups.

However at least two women were filmed kicking, punching and sitting on top of the animals.

Now the southern California city's mayor has ruled the La Jolla beach, known as Children's Pool, will be closed between sunset and sunrise until May 15.

The 24-hour "seal-cam" was introduced in January and equipped with night vision so researchers could watch the seals give birth during the pupping season.

Wildlife campaigner Andrea Hahn told the KFMB news station that the seal abuse has been a problem for years.

"We've had reports of poaching. We've had shootings here at night. We've had seal mutilations at night," she said.

The beach has been the centre of a long legal fight over human access versus seal protection.

It is not illegal to venture near the roped off shoreline, but harassing the seals is against the law.