Mississippi is feeling some of the effects of our changing climate running up against our reliance on pollutants to control our environments. All 21 beaches along the Mississippi gulf coast have been closed due to an enormous blue-green harmful algal bloom (HAB). On Sunday, Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) announced the closure of the last two beaches, Pascagoula Beach East and Pascagoula Beach West.
MDEQ advises people, and their pets, to avoid water contact such as swimming or wading because exposure to the blue-green HAB can be harmful. The closures refer to water contact and does not prohibit use of the sand portion of a beach.
The algae can cause rashes, stomach cramps, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting. MDEQ advises that those exposed wash with soap and water and to not eat fish or any other seafood taken from affected areas.
According to experts, the algae bloom is due to the excessive amount of rain that hit the eastern United States this spring, in tandem with an overuse of fertilizer. The combination has led to a freshwater runoff into the Gulf that fed this bloom.
CBS News reports that officials hope that the spillway feeding the bloom will close by mid-July, and expect the bloom to quickly dissipate after being cutoff from its nourishment source. Until then, stay out of that Mississippi beach water!
The
Clarion Ledger has a listing of all the beaches closed to swimming you can see below the fold.
Hancock County
- Lakeshore Beach
- Buccaneer State Park Beach
- Waveland Beach
- Bay St. Louis Beach
Harrison County
- Pass Christian West Beach
- Pass Christian Central Beach
- Pass Christian East Beach
- Long Beach Beach
- Gulfport Central Beach
- Gulfport West Beach
- Gulfport Harbor Beach
- East Courthouse Road Beach in Gulfport
- Gulfport East Beach
- Edgewater Beach
- Biloxi West Central Beach
- Biloxi East Central Beach
- Gulfport Harbor Beach
Jackson County
- Front Beach in Ocean Springs
- Shearwater Beach in Ocean Springs
- Pascagoula East
- Pascagoula West