1 Pinellas Beach Closed: How To Check On Other Beaches

CLEARWATER, FL – Update June 10, 3:01 a.m.: The City of St. Petersburg has announced all three of its beaches closed earlier in the week due to poor water quality test results have reopened. A fourth beach in Pinellas County, Fort De Soto Park's North Beach, remains off limits.

To find out more about the development in St. Petersburg, check out this related story: 3 St. Pete Beaches Reopen After Water Quality Improves.

Earlier: Tampa Bay area residents and visitors with big beach plans over the weekend will find the water at three destinations in Pinellas County has been deemed unsafe to enter. All three beaches were closed to swimmers after testing showed high levels of enteric bacteria.

The Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County first announced the closing of Fort De Soto Park’s North Beach Thursday evening. That announcement was followed shortly after by one issued by the City of St. Petersburg related to three beaches within its limits: Northshore, Maximo and Lassing Park.

At 4:11 p.m. Friday, St. Petersburg announced that water samples pulled from Northshore Beach were deemed "good." While that beach is no longer off limits, the city says Maximo and Lassing Park remained closed as of Friday afternoon.

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Enteric bacteria are normally found within the intestinal tracts of humans and other animals. Enterococci bacteria is known to cause disease, infections and rashes in humans. When water samples test high for enterococci, the results indicate “fecal pollution, which may come from storm water runoff, pets, wildlife and sewage,” the health department noted.

That health department also said that poor test results should “be considered a potential health risk to swimmers.”

See also: 3 St. Pete Beaches Close Temporarily

Folks who want to check on the conditions at other beaches along the Gulf Coast before they head out over the weekend will find online tools available to help them. Sarasota’s Mote Marine Laboratory conducts year-round monitoring of Bay area waters.

Mote publishes information collected from area beaches on the VisitBeaches.org website. The site provides a snapshot of conditions at beaches from Clearwater south to Marco Island. The online tool is updated regularly with reports on any flags, water color, red tide, air temperature, fish kills and other things beachgoers need to know about.

While the tool doesn’t cover every beach along Florida’s west coast, it provides a sampling of them. The reports are subjective, Mote notes on the website, but are designed specifically “to indicate to the beachgoer which beach may be more preferable to visit at a particular time.” Updates are generally provided twice daily.

To check out Mote’s reporting system, visit www.VisitBeaches.org.

The Florida Department of Health also runs the Healthy Beaches Program to keep track of water conditions throughout the state. That program focuses on reporting the results of water quality tests performed on a regular basis at beaches across the state. The results are published regularly on the FDOH website based on individual county testing and reporting programs.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 4:18 p.m. June 9 to reflect St. Petersburg's announcement that follow-up testing at Northshore Beach produced good results. That testing paved the way for the beach to reopen to swimmers.

Photo courtesy of the City of Clearwater’s Facebook page