Blue-green algae may make people sick and even kill pets.
As a precaution, the bacteria warnings were later expanded to include Downhill and Benone beaches in addition to Portstewart and Castlerock beaches.
With immediate effect, the RNLI red-flag status at Benone Strand, Castlerock Beach, Portstewart Strand, and Downhill Strand has been lifted.
Benone, Castlerock, and Downhill Strand will no longer have red flags flying over them, a spokesperson for Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council announced on Monday.
Portstewart Strand’s red-flag status was also lifted, according to a tweet from The National Trust, which owns and manages the beach.
Testing on water samples taken by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) indicated that algal levels were “well below the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline level.”
Despite the fact that the red-flag status has been lifted, Daera has cautioned the public to watch out for “pockets of blue green algae residue and scum” along the shoreline.
Daera has advised people to be careful not to let their dogs to consume such things.
The organization has declared that it will now resume its usual weekly monitoring of the bathing waters.
Actually, cyanobacteria, a type of bacterium, are what blue-green algae are.
Although it can make people sick, it is particularly harmful to animals and has been linked to the deaths of several canines in other places where it has been found.
During the recent dry weather, blue-green algal blooms have been found at a number of locations throughout Northern Ireland.
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