UPDATE TO THIS STORY. On Sunday Aug. 10, 2025 only Hampton Harbor Beach and Hudson Town Beach remained on the Fecal Bacteria advisory. It is important to frequently check the Department of Environmental Services often because the lists change daily sometimes. https://www.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/8d84a6b03acb4efaab571b222c78447b

Check NH Department of Environmental Services Healthy Swimming mapper here: https://www.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/8d84a6b03acb4efaab571b222c78447b

By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org

HAMPTON – A fecal bacteria advisory is again in effect for Hampton State Park Beach and three other New Hampshire beaches, according to testing by the state Department of Environmental Services.

The large ocean beach went back on the state’s list of fecal bacteria advisories on Thursday. On Friday afternoon, the list also included North Hampton State Park and Hampton Harbor Beach on the ocean. A fresh water beach also had a fecal bacteria advisory Friday, Hudson Town Beach, according to the Department of Environmental Services Healthy Swimming Mapper.

It is important to check the map often because the list can change daily.

Ted Diers, assistant director of the water division of the Department of Environmental Services, said the advisories about water bodies with fecal contamination are warnings, but it is up to people to decide whether they want to swim in the water or not.

Water bodies owned by the state post the advisories on the beaches and on their websites. But it doesn’t mean you can’t go swimming.

“We do these postings to warn people there are indicators of fecal contamination,” Diers said. “We don’t close beaches.”

That contamination comes from the guts of warm-blooded animals like people, pets or wildlife, he said.

People must ingest the contaminated water while swimming or could get the bacteria from their hands after swimming when eating to become sick.

“When we publish fecal warnings, we’ve measured something that might not be safe to swim in,” He said. It is up to people to decide if they want to swim in it, he said.

Children, elderly people, people with open sores or compromised immune systems are at higher risk of getting sick from ingesting fecal contaminated water. Symptoms include vomiting and diarrhea, he said.

It would be extraordinarily rare to die from ingesting fecal contaminated water in New Hampshire. Diers doesn’t know of a single such death in the state.

The warm weather could be exacerbating the problem because more people, pets and wildlife would likely be cooling off in the water.

Diers said it is also hard to tell if someone got sick from fecal contamination or something else such as the potato salad being left out in the heat too long.

Greg Keeler, spokesman for the state Parks said “when we receive notice of any water quality advisories, they are posted online at the top of the particular Park page in a blue advisory banner.

“Physical notices are also posted at the particular beach property. We are made aware of when the advisories are cleared and take down the online banner and signs at the beach.

“There are also links on our website on all beach property pages for people to check the Healthy Swimming Mapper at any time or before they visit one of our beaches to see if there are any advisories,” Keeler said.

In a departure from last summer, there are very few cyanobacteria watches or warnings in the state and only one warning on Friday for Huntress Pond in Barnstead.

Officials have said the hot weather could be a factor in the fecal bacteria outbreak particularly along coastal beaches which is a variation from last summer.

For example, Hampton State Park Beach was sampled 120 times in 2024 at five sampling stations and found to be 100 percent clean between Memorial Day and Labor Day, according to state DES statistics. In 2023, the same beach had a 99.7 percent clean report.

A clean sample is determined by a bacteria result that is lower than the state standard for 104 MPN/100mL, DES said.

John Nyhan, president of the Hampton Area Chamber of Commerce, said he has not heard of any health issues related to the advisories or medical issues and noted while the summer started off slowly it has been a “great month” so far and that the beach plans a large Children’s Festival next week.

Reporter Nancy West contributed to this report.