[BCNnet] Seagulls and Beach Closings

[Evan WW Craig]

We've had a rash of beach closings in Lake County, and our IL Rep (and IL
Senate candidate!) Susan Garrett is holding a forum to find ways to cope.
Data from the Health Department shows lower fecal coliform when gulls were
harassed at the S. Waukegan beach with propane cannons in 1998 and 1999. I
want to know whether this is really part of a reasonable solution.

I'm trying to discover whether fecal coliform (and E.Coli) is a natural part
of beach ecology (without the stresses of a quarter of a million humans), or
whether human activity dramatically predisposes beaches to suffer fecal
coliform blooms when presented with animal feces. 

As you might know, these bacteria reside in beach sand after they have died
out in the water. How long? Is this natural? How much fecal matter does it
take to close a beach?

Are there studies on this?
---
Evan Craig
Chair, Woods & Wetlands Group of Sierra Club
http://illinois.sierraclub.org/w&w
847-680-6437
... Work to Live, Live to Ride, Ride to Work!