EXPOSED: Avoid THESE beaches if you don’t want to swim in POO
BEACHES in Melbourne have been closed after an influx of faecal matter has made them dangerous to swim at.
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Locals have been warned off taking a trip to the beach – at least, a trip to any of the 36 beaches in the Port Philip bay in Melbourne, Australia.
A government forecast has rated these beaches “poor” due to excessive rainfall on Monday causing stormwater pollution.
The rain drained all of the city's catchments into the sea, causing the local ocean water quality to sink to inhospitable levels.
Warnings against going to the local beaches have been issued over health concerns.
Melbourne beaches: Faecal matter has made 36 beaches dangerous
It's gastro that we're worried about and infections
"It's gastro that we're worried about and infections," Victoria's Environment Protection Authority (EPA) group manager Dr Anthony Boxshall told The Age.
"If someone had an open wound on their hand, you can get pathogens."
This is the second time in 2017 that Melbourne’s beaches have been affected by poo contamination.
In early January a torrential downpour contaminated the Port Phillip Bay beaches with human faecal matter.
Bird poo, horse poo and cow poo were also found.
Some 21 beaches were closed after suspicious waste was spotted floating in the water.
Although the beaches were cleared for swimming a week later, there was some suggestion that the faeces had attracted more sharks to the area.
Fisheries Victoria warned that the state's reported shark sightings were at a three to four year high.
Melbourne beaches: Officials have closed off beaches after heavy rainfall polluted the sea
Some media outlets reported that high levels of bacteria could have been attracting more fish to the beaches. This in turn attracted more fish-eating sharks.
However, not all shark experts agreed with that hypothesis.
"I'm not convinced," Deakin University associate professor of life sciences Laurie Laurenson told Vice. "An increase in sightings is not a standard measure of sharks."
Professor Laurenson suggested the increased number of sightings could be a result of more people looking for sharks.