Dear editor,I sympathize with the aurally afflicted residents of the enclaves surrounding CFB Comox. Tis the season. At least their problem is seasonal and therefore predictable and avoidable.Unlike we waterfront residents on the perimeter of Comox Harbour and the Courtenay River estuary. Who speaks for us?From my recliner overlooking the harbour this sunny Sunday I am constantly distracted by the screech of seagulls scrapping with eagles at a decibel level, which, if it weren’t for my hearing loss, would be painful. Overlaying the cacophony is the helter-skelter wind-driven whipping of halyards against aluminum masts, a rhythmic counterpoint to the drone of a nearby lawn mower.Amid the bedlam an Aurora gulps its monthly fuel allotment with a fly past, soon to be followed by a S76 medevac helicopter en route from St Joe’s.(Alert to neighbours of the future hospital — when the first CH149 Cormorant shares your airspace, you will long for the blissful days of the Costco air exchangers. Welcome to Crown Isle — yes, we wear golden ear protectors, what of it?)It is altogether too much. Were it not for the fact the ocean apparently was here before me, I would plead for some level of government to intervene. Where is the Sierra Club in our time of need — photographing customers at the Gas ‘n’ Go?I would ask for the ocean to be as civilized as our lakes — tideless, remaining at apogee so we need not avert our gaze from the slimy bits uncovered by its twice daily withdrawal.And if nature can be bent, can we not impose noise abatement along the flight paths of the trumpeter swan and muzzle the bark of the Steller sea lion?Finally, in the spirit of leaving on a positive note, kudos to Harbour Air which, responding to our thrice daily need to fly to Vancouver harbour, has introduced the single Otter floatplane to its schedule.To the somnolent, the rpms of the early-morning outbound Beaver are Lazarus worthy!Marty Douglas,Courtenay

Comox Valley Record