Son of the Beach

That hot weather we've all been clamouring for finally hit Seattle over the weekend, but not before two area beachs could slam their doors in your face. Gene Coulon Memorial Beach and Matthews Beach tested a little too positive for fecal coliform and both been closed to swimmers.

The Parks Department manages about twenty beaches around Lake Washington, but so far only the two listed have been closed. Friendly scientists, please feel free to step forward and share any info on how those two are displaying the taint while others around, between and on top of them seem fine.

And yeah, fecal coliform is as gross as it sounds and isn't something you want to ignore:

Fecal coliforms are bacteria that live in the digestive tract of warm-blooded animals (humans, pets, farm animals, and wildlife) and are excreted in the feces. In themselves, fecal coliforms generally do not pose a danger to people or animals but they indicate the presence of other disease-causing bacteria, such as those that cause typhoid, dysentery, hepatitis A, and cholera.

Unlike fecal coliforms, disease-causing bacteria generally do not survive long enough in the water, outside the body of animals, to be detected. This makes their direct monitoring difficult. So scientists and public health officials consider the presence of fecal coliforms an indicator of disease bacteria in the water.

Those of you put on edge by sharing the water with such varied and abundant lifeforms will want to remember Seattle's public chlorine baths where the only hazards to your health will be fellow swimmers.