A San Diego judge delayed his order to remove a harbor seal colony from a sheltered cove by Thursday morning after the governor signed a bill that could let them remain.
Superior Court Judge Yuri Hofmann stayed his order just before the deadline expired, pending an October hearing.
The Children's Pool in La Jolla has been the focus of court fights for years between seal supporters and those who want the pool restored for human use.
This week, Hofmann gave San Diego 72 hours to begin dispersing the seals. The city planned to scare the marine mammals away by using recorded dog barks. On Thursday, however, the city asked the judge to stay his order since Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill permitting the cove to be used as a marine mammal park, a fact that that the judge was unable to consider in his ruling because it had not yet occurred.
As many as 100 seals have been seen at a time at the Children's Pool, which has become polluted with the seal's waste.
