Saturna Island Property Owners’ Association P. O. Box 27, Saturna Island, BC, V0N 2Y0 Email: SIPOA@saturnanet.net September 4, 2014 To Whom it May Concern Re: Saturna Island Marine Research and Education Society The Saturna Island Property Owners Association (SIPOA) has more than 230 members and represents a majority of property owners on Saturna Island. We want to emphasize our support for the work the volunteers of SIMRES have accomplished over the past couple of years. The activities of the Saturna Island Marine Research and Educational Society (SIMRES) over the past two years since it was formed have been very impressive. The dozen or so SEATALKS events that they have run have been very well attended, regularly drawing crowds of 50-­‐100 people, which is remarkable in a community of 325 residents. It's very clear that SIMRES is providing a valued educational service, informing the public on matters that range broadly from edible seaweeds, to salmon farming, to whale communications, to critter life on the seabed, etc. Among their other plans, they are now embarking on programs of "citizen science" which will involve residents of Saturna Island in collecting marine life data for scientific evaluation and public education. SIMRES has managed to enlist the services of several top marine scientists for their programs, which is probably a major part of the attraction of their program for the Saturna community. In collaboration with Ocean Networks Canada, Parks Canada, the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Vancouver Aquarium, the University of Victoria, the University of British Columbia, and others, SIMRES is providing a valuable educational service to Saturna, Canada and the world. I understand that SIMRES has now been approved to become the official host of the 5th World Orca Symposium in 2016, which will bring leading scientists from the U.S., Britain, France, Iceland, and other nations to both restricted scientific consultations and open public events, which will take place partly in Victoria and partly on Saturna Island. This honour shows that SIMRES has attained a high level of recognition within the marine scientific community, which will in turn attract more public attention to the educational and research programs offered. SIPOA unreservedly supports SIMRES in their application to be registered as a charitable organisation. Sincerely, Eva Hage President, Saturna Island Property Owners Association