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For the second straight week, the level of Enterococcus bacteria at the Santa Monica beach where Surfrider LA's Blue Water Task Force conducts weekly testing far exceeded the EPA-recommended safe level.
The EPA-recommended threshold for safe levels of bacteria is 104 MPN of CFU (most probable number of colony forming units). Last week’s data peaked at 880 CFU at multiple sites. This week all 3 sites (Lifeguard Tower 26, in front of Shutters/Pico-Kenter stormdrain, and by the Pier) had a peak level of 960 CFU!
Again, water contact including swimming and surfing is not recommended until bacteria levels drop back below the health standard. Symptoms of illness from Enterococcus could include stomach pain/cramps, nausea/vomiting, diarrhea or fever/chills.
ALERT from Dr Micheal Daignault of Surfrider Foundation's Blue Water Task Force
"For the second straight week, the level of Enterococcus bacteria at the Santa Monica beach where Surfrider LA's Blue Water Task Force conducts weekly testing far exceeded the EPA-recommended safe level.
The EPA-recommended threshold for safe levels of bacteria is 104 MPN of CFU (most probable number of colony forming units). Last week’s data peaked at 880 CFU at multiple sites. This week all 3 sites (Lifeguard Tower 26, in front of Shutters/Pico-Kenter stormdrain, and by the Pier) had a peak level of 960 CFU!
Again, water contact including swimming and surfing is not recommended until bacteria levels drop back below the health standard. Symptoms of illness from Enterococcus could include stomach pain/cramps, nausea/vomiting, diarrhea or fever/chills.
We will be reaching out to our contacts at the LA County Health Department regarding these results. As mentioned previously, the real value of this data is the trend over time, and we are observing a disturbing trend.
Send an email to bwtf@la.surfrider.org if you’re interested in learning more about the LA Chapter Blue Water Task Force or contributing to our efforts to monitor ocean water quality."
For more information, check out: Surfrider Foundation's Blue Water Task Force
Hello, this is Dr Michael Daignault, I run the Blue Water Task Force for Surfrider - Los Angeles. As a fellow surfer, I love your website! I appreciate you referring our readers to our website but you have copied verbatim a recent newsblast release that I posted to Facebook on Oct 12 without appropriate attribution of authorship.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, you are insinuating a connection between a "red tide" and the rising bacteria levels that we observed from our on-the-ground testing. By this association, you are insinuating that Surfrider is attributing the bacteria to the red tide, which has not been confirmed.
We would LOVE to work with SHACKED in the future to get our info out there, particularly the results of our weekly water testing. Please email me directly at bwtf@la.surfrider.org. Thanks so much - look forward to hearing from you!
Corrections made, Thank You.
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