Rogers Cove and Beavermead Park beaches in the City of Peterborough are closed until further notice due to possibly harmful blue-green algae blooms in the water.
Peterborough Public Health, which tests the water quality at the two city beaches daily, observed the algae blooms while preparing to collect water samples on Friday (July 14).
Blue-green algae are a type of bacteria called cyanobacteria known for rapidly reproducing and collecting to form large, highly visible blooms, either throughout the water column, on the surface of water as a scum, or on the lake bottom as a mat.
While many forms of blue-green algae are harmless, some species of cyanobacteria can also release poisons, called cyanobacterial toxins, when the cells that make up the bloom rupture or die.
Peterborough Public Health has temporarily closed the beaches for swimming as a precaution while awaiting further testing to confirm if the blooms are harmful.
“We immediately notified the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks Spills Action Centre and have received confirmation that the MECP will sample the blooms today,” says Julie Ingram, the health unit’s manager of environmental health, in a media release. “In addition, we have notified the City of Peterborough who are supporting the beach closures.”
Exposure to blue-green algae toxins through activities like drinking, swimming, and bathing can cause various symptoms including itchy, irritated eyes and skin, rash, headache, fever, diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. Some people may have no reaction.
Pets should not be allowed to enter water with suspected or confirmed harmful algae blooms as they may consume large amounts of contaminated water, resulting in sickness or death.
The risk to humans is primarily from drinking water that has been contaminated with toxins from a dense harmful algae bloom. Long-term consumption of water containing high levels of cyanobacterial toxins may cause neurological or liver problems. Currently, there is no known risk to the City of Peterborough’s municipal drinking water supply.
