The beach may look good this time of year, but travelers headed to Florida take heed - there are a few that you may want to avoid right now due to fecal bacteria.
Officials with the Florida Department of Public Health announced a no-swim advisory due to a higher-than-normal presence of "fecal indicator bacteria" in six beaches across two popular stretches of the Florida panhandle.
These include Garniers Park, Poquito Park, Rocky Bayou State Park, East Pass, Clement E. Taylor Park and Henderson Beach in Okaloosa County and Miramar Beach and Blue Mountain Beach in Walton County.
The parks and beaches tested positive for a higher-than-normal concentration of enterococci - a bacteria that commonly inhabits the intestinal tract of humans and animals.
Each of these beaches were categorized as poor for having 71 or greater bacteria per 100 milliliters tested.
This bacteria, the heath department reports, can cause infections, diseases and rashes if ingested or put into contact with open sores.
