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BAR HARBOR—An elevated bacteria advisory has been issued by Bar Harbor at its town beach for August 26 through August 27 due to elevated bacteria from a sample taken on Monday, August 25. The advisory began shortly after 2 p.m.
That town beach is located off Ells Pier in downtown Bar Harbor, in front of the Bar Harbor Inn and beginning of the Shore Path.
According to a news alert from the state’s Healthy Beaches Program, “Recent enterococci bacteria results above Maine’s safety threshold (104 MPN/100ml). Another sample has been collected at this beach and results will be provided on the MHB website when available.”
Enterococci are bacteria found in many mammals, birds, and human’s gastrointestinal tract. The bacteria can also be pathogens and cause infections, but when measuring the health of a beach, it usually indicates fecal contamination.
According to Assistant Harbormaster Chris Johansen, the town often waits to issue an alert after taking a sample the next day if something is just beyond the safety threshold.
This time, however, the numbers were so high, the town wanted to put up the advisory immediately. Those numbers came in at 10,462 MPN/100 ml. MPN stands for most probable number.
“They do sampling every Monday,” he explained of the monitoring work done by Maine Healthy Beaches.
When the results came back Tuesday, since they were so unusually elevated, the town and state program put up the advisory.
The program has already retested the site, Tuesday, so they’ll see tomorrow if the advisory stays in effect, Johansen said.
“There was something on the beach there when they took the sample that’s not good for the water,” he said.
Often, the culprit is dog fecal matter that hasn’t been picked up by its owner or washed out to sea, he said.
“There’s been a lot of dogs on the beach,” he added.
“Moderate to heavy rainfall can also increase bacteria levels at the beach,” the Healthy Beaches website states. “It is recommended to avoid water contact for at least 24-48 hours after rainfall ceases.”
The last advisory for the town beach was on August 22, 2024. That was a one-day advisory.
“It’s just an advisory. Thankfully, the water is pretty healthy here,” Johansen said.
According to the Maine Healthy Beaches Portal there are no current advisories for Bar Beach (which goes to the Bar Island), Hadley Point, Hulls Cove, and Sand Beach.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE:
For more information about this beach, including monitoring data and a history of advisories, click here.
To view this advisory or an advisory for another beach, see MHB’s Current Beach Advisory Status page.
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