I have been told by boaters that the marine environment around Victoria, specifically the south end of the Saanich Peninsula, is in much poorer health in terms of sea life than areas farther from Victoria.

Those same people say the reason for this is the way we have been handling sewage over the years, and that the current system has not resulted in any improvement in the state of the oceans around the city.

What puzzles me is if oceanographers at UVic say our system is fine, they must have a different view of the state of oceans around Victoria, or at least a different view of its causes.

Two questions. Are oceans around Victoria degraded compared to those around, for example, Sooke? And if so, what are the causes of that degraded state?

The people of the region need to understand the issues and this series will contribute to that.

Brent Beach

Saanich