Meanwhile. . .

KTLA - A California beach has been closed for a week as hundreds of sea lions congregate on the shore, with city officials blocking the area off and federal officials warning that feeding or harassing the animals are against the law. The City of Monterey’s Parks Division officially closed San Carlos Beach on Monday, Aug. 19, blocking the area off with barricades and warning visitors to remain at least 50 yards away from the wild marine mammals.

The National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service’s Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary said that along with hundreds of mostly male sea lions, some sea otter moms and pups were also spotted in the area, and are also federally protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the National Marine Sanctuaries Act.

 A large number of adult California sea lions congregate along beaches in Monterey.
(NOAA’s Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary)

Interesting Facts - As the largest and smallest states by area, Alaska and Rhode Island are in some ways diametrically opposed. But they do share one particular quirk: Each has just one area code. In fact, there are a total of 11 U.S. states whose residents use the same area code — Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming — and the reason has to do with the lower population numbers in those locations.

In 1947, AT&T introduced area codes in an effort to standardize phone numbers across the United States and parts of Canada. The company issued 86 original area codes that are still in use today; the more well populated a state was, the more likely it was to be allotted multiple area codes. Back then, it was common practice for the middle digit to be “0” if the area code covered an entire state, and “1” if it covered only a portion. Today, many states have grown large enough to be given additional area codes, but there are still 11 holdouts. For instance, every inch of Alaska’s 665,384 square miles uses the same 907 area code. The same is true for the fourth largest state by area, Montana, whose residential phone numbers all start with 406. Many of these 11 states have come to embrace their singular area codes as an emblem of local pride. You’ll often find those three digits emblazoned on shirts, craft beers, bumper stickers, and other souvenirs sold throughout each state.