The announcement by Bay of Plenty Regional Council that blue-green algae monitoring has begun for the season makes dismal reading. This is council speak for 'we have lost control of our environment” but hey I am still being paid. Wherever blue green algae occurs in the Bay of Plenty, there you will find black swans. Black swans and Canada geese are the biggest direct polluters of inland waterways and in lakes in the BOP. Black swans have the highest faecal output of any water fowl so far measured, a massive 418 grams per day or 152.570grams per season roughly a trailer full per annum per bird. Each swan has a daily output of 11 million faecal coliforms, 8.6 million e.coli and 270,000 enterocci. Do the maths. Tauranga Harbour will host up to 6000 of these introduced birds this season, possibly more. They will congregate on the most fragile and popular recreational areas of the harbour from Plummers Point to Waihi including the much-loved Omokoroa Beach and Tuapiro. There will also be the seasonal influx of Canada geese. These birds elevate toxic risk even higher as they can carry salmonella and aeromonas microbe species potentially pathogenic to humans. This is all good news because our council can simply drive around plonking toxic water signs everywhere - except in view of cruise ship passengers- so job done, problem solved. Now for the bad news. Tauranga Harbour is slowly but surely dying but our council seems to believe increasing staff and assuring the public that all is well by monitoring the steady decline is the way forward. The ecological balance of Tauranga Harbour has long gone with the mass destruction of seagrass meadows, along with many of our native aquatic species which rely on seagrass to survive largely due to the overwhelming numbers of black swan and Canada geese. Our council appears unwilling or unable to ruffle the feathers of Fish and Game by demanding a huge reduction of these introduced pests. Black swan and Canada geese are clearly the biggest direct polluters and destroyers of our beloved harbour. The question must surely be, how long are we going to condone this controlled destruction, managed neglect and denial by the authorities charged with the responsibility for the welfare of Tauranga Harbour?

K Molloy, Omokoroa.