Inland Bay Water Advisory

Sandbars of the inland bays covered with boats on the weekends. ,, photo by Driscoll Drones

The Inland Bays are under a 24/7 Swim advisory

(July 2019) … Many do not know this, but the inland bays, per DNREC, has a 24/7 swim advisory.
The summer is when the advisory should be heeded the most. Do not go into the water for long periods of time if you have open wounds or a compromised immune system. Yes, that means everyone hanging out at the sandbars all summer. You don’t see any bathrooms out there do you? Those areas usually have higher water flow so are less of a problem.
The real issue is low, stagnant flow waters during low into slack tide that heats up. Then vibrio and other bacteria explodes in growth and can infect open wounds and even old cuts. A few years ago a man nicked his finger on a crab trap he was collecting in the Assawoman bay. Vibrio infected his wound and he died in a day. He was perfectly healthy. Cases like this rarely make the main media. These cases frequency increase every year. There should bemore warnings put out by DNREC about these.

DNREC Water Advisory …. ” There is a permanent caution regarding swimming in the Inland Bays. The Inland Bays suffer from nutrient pollution, coming from failing septic systems, fertilizers and other sources. Water is slow to flush out of these bays, Indian River Bay, Rehoboth Bay and Little Assawoman Bay, so pollutants linger.”

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“My friend’s grandfather was gutting a trigger fish in OCMD and cut his finger. He went to the hospital, was given an oral antibiotic and discharged. Overnight he developed a high fever and his hand looks like this now. They are admitting him and infectious disease specialists are on their way to examine him. They are pumping him with two different types of antibiotics and will be operating later today. They are going to peel back his skin and “scrape it off” from underneath. It has spread to his shoulder so now they are transferring him to an ICU. His kidneys have shut down and his heart is starting to go. They operated on his arm and the muscle had already started to deteriorate and they couldn’t stop it from spreading despite the fact he had an IV of cipro. He was 78, but healthy, no diabetes or anything. The worst part about this is he went right away to the hospital and it (vibrio) still got him.”

Even a fresh cut can be very dangerous, especially from a fish or piece of gear that has been in the water. We keep bleach with us on the boats and vehicles. a 10 to 20 percent solution of bleach to water. Wash out any new cuts or old cuts immediately. If you start to see any issues go to the hospital.

You can get these infections from cleaning fish. They are covered in bacteria and in the warmer months that bacteria will flourish. Some people wear gloves when cleaning fish and it is a good idea during the hotter summer months.
Many are panicking about this flesh eating bacteria and you don’t need to do that, but you do need to be cautious and take care of any cuts immediately.

Fish On!
Rich King