Is It Safe to Go Into the Water at Your Favorite Maine Beach?

Maine has its fair share of amazing beaches.

While Old Orchard Beach is the best known, there are countless others. Long Sands Beach, Short Sands Beach, Ogunquit Beach, Crescent Beach, Higgins Beach, and Popham Beach, to name just a few.

These beaches provide locals and visitors a place to splash around in the majestic Atlantic Ocean, play in the sand, or sun themselves.

Most of our beaches are pristine, but sometimes they have bacteria issues.

According to a WCSH 6 article, testing done by the Maine Healthy Beaches recently found that a handful of popular Maine beaches had unsafe bacteria levels.

The article explains that the Maine Healthy Beaches program monitors bacteria levels at about 60 Maine beaches, then notifies the public when levels are high.

Typically, the bacteria contamination found in the waters around our beaches is caused by animal feces, but can also be caused by leaky soiled diapers on kids playing in the water.

Enterococci bacteria is the most common type of bacteria found on Maine beaches.  While it is not normally a big problem (unless you swallow lots of contaminated water), it can get into open cuts.  It is important to take necessary precautions, like showering after a dip in the ocean and making sure that cuts and scrapes are covered.

You can learn more about enterococci bacteria on the National Library of Medicine's website.

For updated information on your favorite Maine beach, check out the Maine Healthy Beaches website.