No-swimming advisories not stopping people from taking a dip at Parlee Beach

A no-swimming advisory during the entire New Brunswick Day weekend didn't stop beachgoersfrom taking a dip at Parlee Beach.

Water samples turned up with high levels of fecal bacteria three days in a rowfrom water tested Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

But the beach was busy, with lifeguards watching over itand many children swimming in the water.

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Some beachgoers said they were not too worried about the advisories.

"I'm not going in the water," Genevieve Paquin, who is here on vacation from Quebec, said Tuesday.

"The kids do, and they don't mind. But we make sure to take a shower after that and rinse really good."

Others, meanwhile, had no idea a no-swimming advisory was in place.

"We didn't know," said Rhonda Harding, who is here on vacation with a group of peoplefrom Newfoundland."We didn't see anything on the way in. There was nothing very evident to us."

Harding said more should be done to inform visitors, because had she known about the weekend water quality at Parlee, she wouldn't have let her son swim.

"Our kids are down there right now, so yeah, it's not a good feeling I would think that a lot of people on this beach right now obviously don't know about what's happening because there's so many people in the water."

Tough on business

Although the advisories aren't necessarily stopping people from going to the beach, it's been bad for business.

"We're right in the centre of the town," said Mario Cormier, general manager of the IGACoop.

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"We've seen the transactions, and the people coming into the store was considerably less than the years before, so it is quite a concern."

Cormier said it was a slow New Brunswick Day weekend. And if things don't get better, he'll have to cut staff.

"I mean all businesses we have to survive, so we'll need to take some decisions, and unfortunately it's the employees," he said.

Nothing to be alarmed about

Meanwhile, the province said people who want to visit ParleeBeachshouldn't be too worried.

"It's not something that we haven't seenbefore," said Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer of health.

"Last summer, we actually did see the same type of results three days in a row in July, where the numbers were elevated and a no-swimming advisory posted at that time."

"So really, it's not alarming, it's not surprising, it's part of the normal flow of events."

When fecalbacteria levels are elevated, it's not recommended that people especially children and elderlyswim or dip their heads in the water, because the higher the bacteria level, the higher the chance of getting sick.

"Whether you're in a swimming pool, whether you're in a lake, whether you're in the ocean, there's a risk for every body of water," Russell said.

"So you need to always know you should shower after you go in, you should not go in if you have open wounds and cuts, you shouldn't swallow the water those are the types of messages that we want people to know."

The no-swimming advisory was removed late in the day Tuesday, after the last test resultthis one from Sunday,came back within limits, according to the Canadian recreational water quality standards.