3 Jersey Shore Beaches Under Swim Advisories For Fecal Bacteria Levels

NEW JERSEY - Three New Jersey beaches are under swimming advisories on Thursday after high levels of fecal bacteria were found in water samples, state officials said.

The advisories affect beaches in Ocean and Cape May counties, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

The beaches under the advisory are:

Ocean County: 5th Ave Bay Front (Seaside Park)

Cape May County: Forget-me-not (Wildwood Crest Borough), 18th Ave. (North Wildwood City)

The beaches all reported high levels of enterococci bacteria. New Jersey beaches are placed under a swimming advisory when the concentration of bacteria exceeds 104 colonies of Enterococci bacteria per 100 milliliters of sample.

Any initial sample that exceeds the water quality standard results in swim advisories in the area. Two consecutive subpar samples warrant beach closings. There were no New Jersey beach closures reported as of Thursday morning.

All three beaches were resampled on Wednesday, though results won’t be available until Thursday. The swimming advisory will remain in effect until the water quality results are again within standards.
Sources of enterococci in water include storm water runoff, sewage discharged or dumped from recreational boats, and domestic animal and wildlife waste.

Swimming in polluted water can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, sore throat, runny nose, earaches skin rashes and flu-like symptoms.