Every beach along Mississippi's Gulf Coast is closed for swimming as the entire shoreline is now under the same water warning tied to a blue-green algae bloom. CBS Biloxi affiliate WLOX-TV reported that Pascagoula's two beach testing sites on the east and west stations joined a list of 19 other beaches Sunday morning.

 

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) issued a statement saying the closures were mandated in Jackson County, which spans a sizable chunk of the Mississippi coastline, "due to a blue-green Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) extending into those areas."

 

According to the Mississippi Clarion Ledger, all of Mississippi's 21 beaches have now been closed and the algal bloom is caused by the opening of the Bonnet Carre spillway in Louisiana, which has brought an "excessive amount of freshwater to the coastline." The spillway was partially opened to offset a rising Mississippi River that swelled due to an especially wet winter in the Mississippi Valley.

 

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