Beaches from Pickering to Newcastle posted as unsafe; Oshawa and Bowmanville beaches okay

More than half of Durham Region’s beaches have been declared unsafe for swimming this weekend.

In their weekly water tests, the Regional Health Department looks for high rates of bacteria, particularly E.coli. “Beaches are posted as unsafe for swimming when elevated levels of E. coli exceed the provincial standard of 200 E. coli per 100 ml of water,” the Region explained.

Marked safe are;

• Heydenshore Park and Iroquois Beach (Whitby)
• Lakeview Beach East and Lakeview Beach West (Oshawa)
• Bowmanville East and West (Clarington)

Marked unsafe are;

• Paradise Beach (Ajax)
• Beaverton North, Beaverton South and Thorah Centennial Park (Brock)
• Newcastle Beach Central (Clarington)
• Frenchman’s Bay East, Frenchman’s Bay West (Pickering)
• Kinsmen Beach (Scugog)

Kinsmen Beach is a special case, however. The warning there is due to a blue-green algae bloom off of Platten Island. Lake Scugog, as an artificially made water body, often suffers these blooms late in the summer.

There hasn’t been any algae seen at the beach itself but the Region posted an advisory there as a precaution given the beach’s history of blooms. “If people observe algae mats that may be blue-green, olive-green, or red in colour, they are advised not to enter the water in the surrounding area as some can produce toxins which may be harmful to humans and pets,” Durham Health explained.