Nearly 50 Massachusetts beaches were closed to swimming on Sunday, July 28, due to dangerously high levels of bacteria levels or cyanobacteria blooms, according to the state’s beach closure dashboard.
On Cape Cod, Eugenia Fortes Beach in Barnstable and Bucks Creek Beach in Chatham have been closed due to high bacteria levels, and Long Nook Beach in Truro may also remain closed for the rest of the summer due to safety concerns about cliff erosion.
On the North Shore, Independence Park Beach in Beverly, Sandy Beach in Danvers, Kings Beach and Lynnshore Beach in Lynn, Grace Oliver Beach in Marblehead, Osgood, Ocean Avenue and Children’s Island Beaches in Salem and Winthrop Beach in Winthrop were closed due to bacteria levels. Camp Naumkeag Beach in Salem and Kings Beach in Swampscott were closed for “other” reasons.
On the South Shore, Smith Beach in Braintree, Gray’s Beach in Kingston and Brody Beach in Quincy were closed due to bacteria levels. Three beaches in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood — Malibu, Savin Hill and Tenean — were also closed due to bacteria.
On the islands, beaches at Dionis and Washing Pond on Nantucket, Long Cove and Seth Pond on Martha’s Vineyard were closed due to bacteria, and Sethchacha Pond beach on Nantucket was also closed due to a cyanobacteria bloom.
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The state’s beach water quality dashboard is updated twice daily, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. The dashboard displays recent water quality testing results for beaches across Massachusetts. Over 1,100 public and semi-public beaches are regularly monitored.
State officials warn people not to swim or get in the water at beaches that are marked as closed on the dashboard due to the risk of contracting the disease, but other recreational activities can still be carried out safely at closed beaches.
See below for a complete list of beach closures for Sunday, July 28. If you don’t see the table, click here.