This past weekend, Rep. Brian Bilbray painted a very rosy -- and highly misleading -- picture regarding his role as ambassador for the oceans. As the president of Ocean Champions, the only national organization that evaluates and supports candidates based on their records of protecting the oceans, and one with a strong bipartisan record, I can say that Bilbray has not distinguished himself as an ocean champion.

I know how important the oceans are to San Diego -- I went to school here and have family here -- and had high hopes that Bilbray, as a surfer, would be an ocean champion in Congress. So when he declared for the 50th District in 2006, we immediately sent him our questionnaire on ocean and coastal issues.

But despite numerous contacts from us, neither he nor his staff ever responded. We concluded that the oceans must not be that important to him.

And his subsequent actions in Congress have proven that judgment correct.

One of Bilbray's first votes upon returning to Congress in 2006 was to repeal a federal ban on offshore oil drilling along the California coastline. As anyone who remembers the 1969 oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara knows, the moratorium on offshore oil drilling is critical to protecting ocean health.

When Bilbray voted to lift the moratorium, (an effort Ocean Champions helped defeat) our decision not to endorse him was validated.

Last year, Bilbray was one of only 25 members of the entire Congress to vote against the Water Resources Development Act, which encouraged the protection of our shoreline and provided for aquatic ecosystem restoration.

He also voted against an alternative energy bill aimed at reducing CO2 emissions and mitigating the effects of global warming, although the rise in CO2 levels is creating increasingly acidic oceans that may already be having a devastating impact on ocean life, especially coral and shellfish. His "no" votes do not represent a vote for healthy oceans.

Bilbray's claims about the reauthorization of the Beach Act also don't hold water. It was primarily concerned with reporting water quality violations, rather than doing anything to actually reduce those violations. Most experts think the only reason for the decrease in beach closures has to do with a combination of dry-weather years, which reduces harmful runoff, and a change in the way that the closures are reported.

If Bilbray were concerned about protecting our oceans, he would support visionary bills like Oceans 21, which establishes a national policy to protect, maintain and restore the health of our oceans. This bipartisan bill, which has numerous Democratic and Republican cosponsors, is gaining momentum and recently passed its first vote in Congress. He is not among the cosponsors -- why not?

Of course, the candidates' records and plans for our oceans should be a campaign issue for California's 50th District. Ocean Champions wants to ensure that the records are accurate and transparent. Our oceans need true champions in Congress and not just on the campaign trail.

David Wilmot is founder and president of Ocean Champions, a 501(c)(4) organization, which focuses solely on oceans and ocean wildlife.