UPDATE:
The Jersey Shore had a high number of beach closures and advisories Tuesday because of elevated bacteria levels following major storms over the past few days.
The state Department of Environmental Protection's website lists three beach closures on the Toms River as well as water quality advisories at 31 ocean, bay or river beaches from Monmouth to Cape May counties because of high levels of enterococci.
The beaches closed on Tuesday were Beachwood Beach West in Beachwood, Summit Beach in Island Heights and West Beach at Avon Road in Pine Beach, all on the Toms River in Ocean County. They were at extremely high numbers, with Beachwood West posting 1300 colony-forming units (cfu) per 100 ml of water; Summit at 1800 and West Beach at 920.
The advisories were issued at the following beaches:
Monmouth County
Deal - Philips Avenue, 130; Hathaway Avenue, 150
Highlands - Miller Beach, 160
Long Branch: - South Bath, 320; North Bath, 110
Middletown - Ideal Beach, 140
Sea Bright - Rumson Road, 160
Sea Girt - New York Boulevard, 140
Spring Lake - York Avenue, 110
Ocean County
Ocean Gate - Wildwood, 160
Point Pleasant Beach - Maryland Avenue, 110
Point Pleasant Borough - River, 150
Stafford - Jennifer, 120
Toms River: 4th Avenue, 140; North Beach, 450
Atlantic County
Somers Point - New Jersey Avenue, 120
Ventnor - Dorset, 360; Washington, 170; Austin, 305; and New Haven, 382
Atlantic City - Georgia, 125; Bartram, 175; Montgomery Avenue; 120; Annapolis Avenue, 130; Missouri Avenue, 122; North Carolina Avenue, 120; and Pennsylvania Avenue, 440
Cape May County
North Wildwood - 2nd Avenue and JFK, 120
Ocean City - North, 120; Surf, 120; and Park, 120
Bob Considine, a DEP spokesman, said the high bacteria levels were caused by the two days of heavy rain before the samples were taken.
To be of concern, a water sample must exceed 104 colony-forming units of the enterococci bacteria per 100 milliliters of water. A first sample exceeding that level triggers the issuance of an advisory and the water has to be sampled the following day. If the second sample remains high, the beach is closed to swimming and remains closed until the sample falls under the limit.
Traditionally, areas that have inadequate stormwater runoff systems have experienced these closures when heavy rains wash the feces of geese and other animals into the water.
MaryAnn Spoto may be reached at mspoto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnSpoto. Find NJ.com on Facebook.