Poop Leads to Swimming Advisories in 3 New Jersey Beach Towns

Oh, poop! Higher than normal level of a certain bacteria in the waters of three New Jersey beach towns could make swimmers sick, so an advisory has been put in place.

The bacteria are called Enterococci, and it comes from fecal matter.

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection says samples from the water in the affected areas have indicated an unsafe concentration of Enterococci two times in a row, resulting in the need for swimming advisories. It's standard practice, according to NJBeaches.org.

So, where did all these fecal bacteria come from? Multiple sources can be to blame, for example, sewage discharge from recreational boats and domestic animal and wildlife waste, Patch.com reports.

If you swim the beaches below while the advisories are in effect, it'd probably be a good idea to try and avoid getting any water in your eyes or mouth. When Enterococci hits your system, it can bring on nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, sore throat, skin rashes, pain when urinating, and even flu-like symptoms, among other things, according to healthline.com.

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Here are the Jersey Shore beaches under a fecal bacteria swimming advisory (as reported by Patch.com):

• Longport: 19th Avenue Beach, 19th Street Beach, and 26th Avenue Beach
• Margate: Osborne Beach and Washington Beach
• Ventnor: Washington Beach