LA JOLLA, Calif. — Twenty years ago the sheltered Children’s Pool Beach here was crammed with kids. Then, slowly, but inexorably, they came: the seals. And then more. And even more. Then they started giving birth. By 1997, the kids’ beach was closed by the city due to “continuously high fecal coliform counts.”

Today, after legal battles pitting environmentalists against some citizens, the people are back, but the seals are still there and co-exist amid a battle over putting a year-round rope to ensure the tourist-attracting seals don’t leave. But if you go back 20 years, your reaction would be: “Who would have THOUGHT it?”