No Swim Advisory Issued For Six Miami-Dade Beaches
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - This weekend is shaping up to be a great one to hit the beach, but there are a couple you should scratch off your list because there's too much poop in the water.
A swim advisory has been posted for:
- Crandon North
- Crandon South
- Virginia Key Beach
- Dog Beach Rickenbacker Causeway
- Cape Florida
- Key Biscayne (Beach Club)
Samples of beach water quality collected at these beaches had higher than acceptable levels of enterococci bacteria.
Enteric bacteria enterococci normally inhabit the intestinal tract of humans and animals. The prevalence of enteric bacteria is an indicator of fecal pollution, which may come from stormwater run-off, wildlife, pets, and human sewage.
The Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County is required to issue an advisory to inform the public is a specific standard is not met. While beach water quality for the Key Biscayne beach site (Beach Club) did not exceed the standard for enterococci, it was very close. Given the location of Key Biscayne beach site (Beach Club) within the sites that exceeded the standard, an advisory has been issued for all six beach sites.
The advisory issued recommends not swimming at these locations at this time. The results of the sampling indicate that water contact may pose an increased risk of illness, particularly for susceptible individuals.
Virginia Beach and Crandon North & South beaches were under the same advisory last month for the same problem.
