LONG BEACH ISLAND -- Two bay beaches on Long Beach Island were closed Tuesday to swimming and another has a posted advisory because of high fecal bacteria levels, state environmental officials reported on Tuesday.
The closings were for the bay beaches at New Jersey Avenue and Stockton Avenue in Long Beach Township, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.
An advisory was issued for the bay beach at 16th Street in Surf City, the DEP reported on njbeaches.org.
Beaches are issued health advisories when water testing shows levels of Enterococci - bacteria found in animal and human waste - exceeding 104 parts per 100 milliliters of water. The advisory is upgraded to a closure when results are still too high on the second consecutive day of testing. The beach remains closed to swimming until the results fall back to acceptable levels.
The Enterococci level at New Jersey Avenue registered 400; at Stockton Avenue, 540; and at 16th Street, 240, according to the beach water quality report.
MaryAnn Spoto may be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnSpoto. Find NJ.com on Facebook.