Are Massachusetts Beaches Safe for Swimming? Poop in the Water?

There is poop in the water!

Masslive.com asks the question “Are Massachusetts beaches safe for swimming?” and your mind immediately jumps to Great White Shark sightings, but that is not what they are talking about.

They are reporting on testing of water samples at local beaches which are reporting high levels of bacteria resulting from fecal contamination.

That’s right. There is poop in the water.

According to masslive.com, beaches in Norfolk County appear to be the most likely to be unsafe for swimming, but other area beaches made the list including Nahant Bay at Eastern Avenue, Tenean Beach, Provincetown Harbor at Franklin Street and Malibu Beach in Dorchester Bay.

What causes the high concentration of bacteria is sewage overflows getting into the ocean, the article reported, and high levels of bacteria can make you very sick with a number of different gastrointestinal illnesses.

Everyone is looking for sharks, from lifeguards to drones to helicopters to beachgoers.  The Atlantic White Conservancy has tagged many sharks and we can track their movements with an app but what are we supposed to do about bacterial levels?

Take a microscope to the beach?  I CAN’T SEE BACTERIA IN THE WATER!

Guess I will just sit in my beach chair on the sand for a while and enjoy the view.