Whatcom County annual BEACH report

We monitored five beaches in Whatcom County during the 2021 season:

Birch Bay County Park
Blaine Marine Drive Park
Larrabee State Park
Little Squalicum State Park
Port of Bellingham Marine Park

Tree-lined beach with driftwood and green plants — Larrabee State Park Beach in Whatcom County.

Keeping beaches safe

The Beach Environmental Assessment, Communication & Health (BEACH) Program ensures that marine water is safe to swim and play in and informs the public if water doesn't meet swimming standards. Sampling takes place from Memorial Day to Labor Day. During this time, you can check out current water quality conditions on the swimming map.

Five beaches in Whatcom County were monitored during the swim season in 2021. Birch Bay County Park and Port of Bellingham Marine Park were sampled every other week. Blaine Marine Drive Park was sampled twice during the season, due to funding constraints. Sampling was conducted by the Whatcom County Health Department. Larrabee State Park and Little Squalicum Park were sampled weekly by Surfrider volunteers.

See details on each beach below.

Little Squalicum beach has consistently low to moderate bacteria levels, with occasional high bacteria spikes. A permanent swimming advisory is in place for this beach. Little Squalicum Park beach was sampled 15 times during the monitoring season.

During the 2021 sampling season, Little Squalicum Park beach had six sampling events that exceeded the safe swimming standards. The exceedances occurred on May 24, June 21, June 29, July 20, August 17, and August 31. This beach exceeded EPA’s water quality criteria for both the geometric mean and the statistical threshold value.

A shoreline survey was conducted at this beach on August 27.

Data summary: Bacteria results compared to standards

The chart below summarizes the bacteria levels at Whatcom County beaches in relation to the EPA swimming standard or saltwater swimming criteria. Beaches are considered unsafe for swimming when the geometric mean of enterococcus/100 mL of water is greater than or equal to 30 and the statistical threshold value of enterococcus/100 mL is greater than or equal to 110. We issue a public swimming advisory when enterococcus levels exceed 104 per 100 mL of water.

Table: Calculated geometric mean and statistical threshold value at Whatcom County beaches (in enterococcus per 100 mL) for 2021.

Beach	GM	STV
Birch Bay County Park Beach	10	13
Blaine Marine Drive Park	12	20
Larrabee State Park Beach	16	44
Little Squalicum Park Beach	99	1114
Port of Bellingham Marine Park Beach	26	171

Contact information

Contact BEACH: Reach BEACH staff, sign up for the listserv, or follow us on social-media platforms.

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