Monitoring and Analysis of Bacterial Communities during a Summer Season on Gyeongpo Beach

Lee, J.L.; Kim, I.H.; Yeon, Y.J., and Lee, J., 2017. Monitoring and analysis of bacterial communities during a summer season on Gyeongpo Beach. In: Lee, J.L.; Griffiths, T.; Lotan, A.; Suh, K.-S., and Lee, J. (eds.), The 2nd International Water Safety Symposium. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 79, pp. 249–253. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. A number of tourists visit beaches in the summer to enjoy sea bathing. However, numerous accidents occur on the eastern coast because of the topographical characteristics of the beach, and most accidents are caused by rip currents. Additionally, in the summer, as many tourists prefer beaches near swash zones, exposure to non-point pollutant sources can occur, significantly harming the health of visitors. Enterococci have shown the strongest correlation to gastrointestinal symptoms in a study examining the relationship between swimming-associated gastrointestinal illness and microorganisms. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found a direct relationship between the density of E. coli and enterococci in surface waters and increased swimmer-associated gastroenteritis. These reports suggest that E. coli and enterococci can be used as bacterial indicators compared to total coliform. Therefore, in this study, the safety of beach seawater was evaluated using E. coli and enterococci as bacterial indicators. Enterococcus and E. coli were isolated during the summer holiday season from the Gyeongpo Beach located on the eastern coast of Korea. The results indicated that the source of pollution near a swash zone, where people are crowded, was larger than that at the dry beach and near swimming zone.