This story was published at 12:30 pm — check this link for more updates.
Two dozen swimming areas across the Cape and South Coast are facing week-long closures because of fecal bacteria.
County officials say they believe the contamination is the direct result of large crowds and heavy rains earlier in the week that washed fecal matter from dogs, turkeys, geese, and more into waterways.
Most of the closures are in Wareham and include Swift Beach, Forbes Beach, Pinehurst Beach, Point Independence, and Briarwood Beach. Several more are posted at Follins Pond and Clipper Lane in Dennis; Buck's Creek Ridgevale, Cockle Cove Creek at Parking Lot & Cockle Cove Creek at Ridgevale Bridge in Chatham; Cooks Brook in Eastham; and Patuisset Beach in Bourne.
The county also found that nearly a dozen other swimming areas failed initial fecal bacteria tests. The following beaches failed on Wednesday and were re-tested Thursday.
Wareham: Standish Shores, Riverside
Barnstable: Millway Beach
Yarmouth: Follins Pond, Gray’s Beach
Dennis: Mayflower Beach
Chatham: Oyster Pond Beach, Ridgevale Beach
Orleans: Pilgrim Lake
Truro: Pamet Harbor
Provincetown: Kendall Lane
If the re-tests pass, the beaches will not be closed to swimming. Testing results for more than 350 swimming areas will be available today on the county’s website.
“We’ve definitely seen worse during a Fourth of July week, said county spokesperson Bethany Traverse. But all things told, she said, this was a “pretty small percentage” of the total swimming areas that the county monitors.
Traverse warned that exposure to fecal bacteria and toxic algae growths can lead to stomach pain, vomiting, skin issues and more.