Florida Sea Grant is involved in a couple of water quality monitoring projects.  We train and support Lakewatch volunteers who are monitoring nutrients within the bay – that report will be coming in August.  We also train and support volunteers monitoring salinity nearshore – that report will be coming as soon as our final station has completed their measurements.  And we report health advisories posted by the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) each week – it is this data this 1^st quarter report will focus on.

Health advisories are issued when the fecal bacteria levels are too high.  The bacterium monitored in saline waters is Enterococcus.  This bacterium is found in the digestive tracts of birds and mammals and assists with digestion.  When birds and mammals defecate, these bacteria can be found in the environment.  Scientists use the presence of this (and other fecal bacteria) as an indicator of fecal waste in the water.  It is not a surprise to find it – birds and mammals do go to the restroom – but high levels of Enterococcus bacteria indicate high levels of fecal waste, and this could be a health hazard.

The FDOH pulls samples each week from 13 public swimming areas in the Pensacola area.  Due to costs, they do not pull samples every week from every station – but rather focus on the warmer months when more people will be in the water.  Three stations – Bayou Texar, Sanders Beach, and Bruce Beach – are sampled year-round.  Big Lagoon State Park, Bayou Grande, Casino Beach, Quietwater Beach, Park East, and Park West are sampled spring, summer, and fall.  Johnson’s Beach, Ft. Pickens, and Opal Beach are sampled in the summer.  Bayou Chico had been sampled during the spring, summer, and fall – but there have not been any data posted from this location in 2025.

Since each station is not sampled with equal frequency, we report on the percentage of samples collected requiring an advisory.  Historically most stations along our beaches and barrier islands have very few advisories issued – most are 0% and all are usually under 5%.  The urban bayous are different.  Historically they have been at, or above 30% of the samples.  Bayou Chico is frequently at, or above 50% of the samples.

Below is the report of the number of samples, advisories, and percentage of samples requiring advisories so far for 2025.  You will notice that some stations have more POOR readings than ADVISORIES ISSUED.  This is due to the protocols used.  If a sample has 71 colonies/100ml or more (POOR) a second sample is analyzed to confirm.  In some cases, it is not confirmed and so no advisory would be issued.

The 2^nd Quarter Report will be posted in July.

If you have any questions concerning these advisories, please contact Rick O’Connor at roc1@ufl.edu.

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