Abstract
Recently, coastal recreation areas have been polluted by pathogenic microorganisms from human and animal feces. In fact, it has been reported that the risk of infection by pathogens is not negligible in coastal areas. Fecal bacteria (e.g., fecal coliforms (FCs) and enterococci (ENTs)) were monitored on Aoshima Beach, Miyazaki, Japan, to understand the contamination by fecal bacteria, indicating the presence of pathogens in coastal recreation areas. Coastal water samples were collected at 5 stations on Aoshima Beach between May and August, 2010. The FC and ENT counts in coastal water were found to range from below detection limits (BDL) to 1.4×103 CFU·100 mL-1 and from BDL to 4.6×102 CFU·100 mL-1, respectively. The monitoring carried out daily between June 23 and July 21 indicated that the concentrations of both fecal bacteria increased during rainfall, exceeding the guideline levels set by U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (i.e., FC, 800 CFU·100 mL-1; ENT, 104 CFU·100 mL-1). However, the high fecal bacterial counts decreased to approximately 10 CFU·100 mL-1 within 3 days after the rainfall.
