More than 30 Massachusetts beaches closed during heat wave
BOSTON - More than 30 beaches across Massachusetts are closed for swimming Wednesday, the third day of a likely heat wave that's bringing excessive temperatures and humidity to the area.
The Department of Public Health publishes a daily dashboard of beach closures. Check the list below, which was last updated on Wednesday morning.
Massachusetts beach closures
Damon Pond Beach, Ashby (Bacterial Exceedance)
Ashland Reservoir - Main Beach, Ashland (Bacterial Exceedance)
Hopkinton Reservoir - Main Beach, Ashland (Bacterial Exceedance)
Hopkinton Reservoir - Upper Beach, Ashland (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
Ayer Town Beach, Ayer (Bacterial Exceedance)
Keyes Beach, Barnstable (Bacterial Exceedance)
Malibu, Boston (Bacterial Exceedance)
Tenean, Boston (Bacterial Exceedance)
South Pond, Brookfield (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
Mauserts Pond, Clarksburg (Bacterial Exceedance)
Walden Pond - Red Cross, Concord (Other)
Sandy Beach, Danvers (Bacterial Exceedance)
Hidden Bay, Dartmouth (Combined Sewer Overflow/Sanitary Sewer Overflow event)
Jones Town Beach North, Dartmouth (CSO/SSO event)
Jones Town Beach South, Dartmouth (CSO/SSO event)
Moses Smith Creek, Dartmouth (Bacterial Exceedance)
Clipper Lane, Dennis (Bacterial Exceedance)
Dunn Pond, Gardner (Bacterial Exceedance)
Lake Mansfield, Great Barrington (Other)
Lunenburg Town Beach, Lunenburg (Bacterial Exceedance)
Kings, Lynn (Bacterial Exceedance)
Black Rock, Nahant (Bacterial Exceedance)
Lulu Pond Beach, Pittsfield (Bacterial Exceedance)
Broady (Baker), Quincy (Bacterial Exceedance)
Whitehall Pond Beach, Rutland (Bacterial Exceedance)
Camp Naumkeag, Salem (Other)
Beamans Pond - Campground, Templeton (Bacterial Exceedance)
Beamans Pond - Day Use, Templeton (Bacterial Exceedance)
Longnook, Truro (Other)
Marconi, Wellfleet (Bacterial Exceedance)
Card Pond Beach, West Stockbridge (Bacterial Exceedance)
Long Cove, West Tisbury (Bacterial Exceedance)
Shannon Beach @ Upper Mystic, Winchester (Bacterial Exceedance)
Lake Quinsigamond - Regatta Point Beach, Worcester (Bacterial Exceedance)
Vernon Street, Yarmouth (Bacterial Exceedance)
Why are so many beaches in Massachusetts closed?
Most of the beaches on the list are closed due to excessive bacteria in the water. Recent rainfall can bring pollution or sewage into the water, causing bacteria levels to go up.
Swimming in water with high bacteria levels can cause illness, health experts warn.
Longnook Beach in Truro has been closed so far this summer due to erosion, and the beach at Walden Pond is underwater because of heavy rain last year.
And on Nantucket, six south shore beaches are closed to swimming because of debris from a broken wind turbine blade that washed ashore.
