AREAWIDE Santa Monica Bay beaches this year earned high marks for water quality - with 94 percent scoring As and Bs - on an end-of-summer beach report card released Tuesday.

But not all beaches in the South Bay and Harbor Area were without problems, according to the report issued by the environmental group Heal the Bay.

The organization doles out A-to-F letter grade to 446 beaches along the state coastline, based on bacterial pollution data. The higher the grade a site receives, the lower the risk of illness to swimmers and beach users.

The report lists various local monitoring sites where water samples taken from April 1 to Sept. 3 contained bacteria counts that exceeded state health standards.

They include inner Cabrillo Beach at the restrooms, with 99 exceedances; the south side of the Redondo Beach pier, 43; inner Cabrillo Beach at the boat launch, 33; Dockweiler State Beach at the mouth of Ballona Creek, 21; Marina del Rey's "Mother's Beach" near the playground area, 13; Redondo Beach at the Topaz Street jetty, 9; and more.

For the full summer report.

- Kristin S. Agostoni

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Local beaches earn high grades in report card