Don’t Swim at These New Jersey Shore Beaches: Unsafe Due to Bacteria

Don't Swim at These New Jersey Shore Beaches: Unsafe Due to Bacteria

Due to bacterial levels discovered in water testing, state officials closed one beach to swimmers and issued advisories for four others on Wednesday.

According to NJbeaches.org, the state Department of Environmental Protection's beach website, beaches in Monmouth, Ocean, and Cape May counties are among those under closure and advisory.

According to the NJDEP's beaches website, NJBeaches.org, a swimming advisory is issued for New Jersey beaches when the bacterial count above 104 colonies of Enterococci bacteria per 100 milliliters of sample.

Seaside Park, the borough's bayfront beach at Fifth Avenue, was the only area where swimming was prohibited on Wednesday. According to a retest conducted Tuesday, water samples there revealed bacterial levels of 100 and 290 at two different test sites, the NJDEP said.

As of Wednesday, there was no updated test data for two Monmouth County beaches that were under swimming advisories as of June 10: the beach at Plum Island in Middletown, at the mouth of the Shrewsbury River, and the Broad Street beach in Keyport, on Raritan Bay.

Brick Township's Cedar Bridge Manor, a boat launch on the Metedeconk River rather than a swimming beach, was also under advisory. It was also tested on June 10th, but there was no update available.

Additionally, Sea Isle City's 42nd Avenue Lagoon beach is under an advisory. Water samples collected on Monday had 120 colonies per 100 milliliters, according to testing.

Swim advisories are issued in the vicinity of any initial sample that surpasses the water quality guideline. Beach closures are warranted after two consecutive poor tests.

Stormwater runoff, sewage released or discarded from recreational boats, and domestic animal and wildlife feces are also sources of enterococci in water.

Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, sore throat, runny nose, earaches, skin rashes, and flu-like symptoms can all result from swimming in contaminated water.