While it’s easy to track the ever increasing dollar cost of the old Blue Bridge replacement in Victoria, it’s only recently it seems that people have noted another potential cost.

The lights that are planned to illuminate the new bridge will almost surely cost many bait-sized fish their lives. Of special concern are salmon fry migrating out to the ocean. Hunting animals need only park themselves at depth under the lights and await their prey to swim above them. This feeding method has been observed to be used by seals and sea lions in several Vancouver Island rivers in which man-made lighting – on a bridge or a near-shore structure or roadway – enables them to easily detect their prey.