No Swimming!

"A lot of it has to do with just our human presence and inhabitance of the land, we change the land, we clear forests and we build houses and with that comes these instances where bacteria has opportunities to get into our beach water...."

— Bethany Traverse 

Health Communications Coordinator, Barnstable County

Which Massachusetts and Cape Cod beaches are closed?

Over the past week more than 60 beaches in Massachusetts have at some point been closed, including salt water beaches in Eastham, Chatham, Harwich, Dennis, Falmoiuth and Bourne, as well as fresh water ponds in Barnstable and Mashpee.  The exact closing information changes daily based on the most recent water test results. In other words, a beach can test high in bacteria two days a in a row and be closed, but test low and safe a day later, so checking beach health on the state site offers the best way to know if any particular beach has been closed for water quality.

How do I know a beach is safe?

• The Commonwealth of Massachusetts keeps a current list on its website, identifying the most recent beach closings by town.

• Barnstable County also posts notices and offers a searchable Cape and Islands test list.

• The Association to Preserve Cape Cod monitors freshwater cyanobacteria outbreaks with a graphical map and an alert email list.

Most beaches on Cape Cod test cleanly most of the time and experts from Barnstable Public Heath say what we currently see are temporary occurrences, not ongoing issues that should cause worry.

Why are beaches closed?

The culprit behind many closures falls in the category of "bacterial excedences;"  ie a fancy way of saying the amount of bacteria which appears during water testing exceeds accepted safe limits. The high counts can appear during routine state water testing of public swimming areas. This testing is part of a public safety effort to protect people in public beach areas.

What causes the water quality issues at the beach?

Storm water runoff and the materials it carries can cause some of the issues. Duck, geese, gull, other bird and mammal animal feces can also lie at the root of a high level test results. Human waste can also trigger high bacterial counts.  In addition, the warmer water appearing earlier this year may also be playing a role in bacterial blooms. In fresh water ponds, cyaobacteria blooms also trigger closures. In August 2022 Cape Cod experience a high level of cyanobacteria pond closures (see news video).