Seagulls have been identified as the main cause of elevated levels of E.coli at Goderichs beaches.

Erica Clark of the Huron County Health Unit informed town councillors at the March 9 meeting microbial source tracking results showed that the birds are causing beach closures in town.

Clark said while there is regular water testing of local beaches for E.coli, that method does not indicate what is causing the contamination.

Last summer, the health unit performed microbial source tracking, a field that provides information on sources of fecal pollution, in six areas of Goderich beach waters.

They tested for six species humans, cattle, dogs, Canadian geese, seagulls and other birds.

Clark said seagulls were found to be the only major contributing factor to elevated levels of E.coli.

However, she did note that the other species cant be totally ruled out on such a small sample of testing.

According to Clark, the levels of E.coli at Goderichs beaches has been increasing over the past eight years.

The beaches to the north and south of Goderich have good water quality, which Clark said likely indicates the sources of fecal pollution are localized to Goderich.

Clark presented council with three possible choices on how to deal with seagulls.

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Seagulls have a negative effect on Goderich's beaches