{"id":10750,"date":"2023-05-31T20:35:53","date_gmt":"2023-06-01T01:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.framingham.com\/news\/?p=10750"},"modified":"2023-05-31T20:56:34","modified_gmt":"2023-06-01T01:56:34","slug":"cyanobacteria-bloom-closes-waushakum-pond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.framingham.com\/news\/2023\/05\/31\/general-interest\/cyanobacteria-bloom-closes-waushakum-pond\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyanobacteria Bloom Closes Waushakum Pond"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.framingham.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230530-cyanobacteria-washakump-pond-framingham-792x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Notice - Cyanobacteria Bloom closes Waushakum Pond, Framingham MA May 30, 2023\" class=\"wp-image-10751\" width=\"198\" height=\"256\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.framingham.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230530-cyanobacteria-washakump-pond-framingham-792x1024.jpg 792w, https:\/\/www.framingham.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230530-cyanobacteria-washakump-pond-framingham-232x300.jpg 232w, https:\/\/www.framingham.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230530-cyanobacteria-washakump-pond-framingham-116x150.jpg 116w, https:\/\/www.framingham.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230530-cyanobacteria-washakump-pond-framingham-768x994.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.framingham.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230530-cyanobacteria-washakump-pond-framingham-1187x1536.jpg 1187w, https:\/\/www.framingham.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230530-cyanobacteria-washakump-pond-framingham-300x388.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.framingham.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230530-cyanobacteria-washakump-pond-framingham.jpg 1583w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Cyanobacteria Bloom closes Waushakum Pond, Framingham MA (May 30, 2023)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>FRAMINGHAM, MA<\/strong> - The Memorial Day weekend and recent hot temperatures brought swimmers to the shores of local beaches, unfortunately for those wanting to swim in Framingham's <strong>Waushakum Pond<\/strong> the <strong>Massachusetts Department of Public Health<\/strong><em> (MA DPH)<\/em> has issued a <strong>PUBLIC HEALTH ADVISORY<\/strong> for the body of water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On May 30th, 2023, the <strong>Framingham Park &amp; Recreation Department<\/strong> notified the public (via social media) that the  body of water is <strong>UNSAFE FOR PEOPLE AND PETS!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Notices warn residents intending to use Waushakum for recreation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Do not swim.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Do not swallow the water.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Keep animals away.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rinse off after contact with water<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>According the MA DPH websites, \"Cyanobacteria (sometimes called blue-green algae) occur naturally in freshwater, but under certain conditions they can multiply quickly, creating a highly concentrated area known as an \u201calgae bloom\u201d. Algae blooms can be harmful to humans and animals. Some harmful cyanobacteria produce toxins (known as cyanotoxins) that are dangerous at very low levels in surface waterbodies.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the <strong>U.S. Center for Disease Control <\/strong>(<em>CDC<\/em>), exposure to cyanobacteria may cause symptoms ranging from <strong>stomach pain, vomiting, or diarrhe<\/strong>a to headache, fever, tiredness, or other general symptoms as well as <strong>skin, eye, nose, or throat irritation<\/strong> or even n<strong>eurological symptoms<\/strong> such as muscle <strong>weakness<\/strong> or <strong>dizziness<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The MA DPH website notes that in Massachusetts harmful algae blooms may occur at any time of year -- they are most common in late summer and early fall.  This may not bode well for those who enjoy swimming in Waushakum as bloom this early in the season may be an early indication that the beach may be closed often as it has been in past years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Water treatment using a copper based algaecide has been used in past years to reduce cyanobacteria hazard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more info about the health notice visit the <strong>MA DPH<\/strong> web page: <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mass.gov\/info-details\/guidelines-for-cyanobacteria-at-recreational-freshwater-locations\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Cyanobacteria in Recreational Freshwater<\/strong><\/a>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For detailed information about health risks, visit the <strong>CDC<\/strong> page about <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/habs\/be-aware-habs.html\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Harmful Algae Blooms <em>(HABs)<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">###<\/p>\n\n\n<figure style=\"height:0px;\" class=\"wp-block-post-featured-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"175\" height=\"105\" src=\"https:\/\/www.framingham.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230530-cyanobacteria-washakump-pond-framingham-175x105.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Notice - Cyanobacteria Bloom closes Waushakum Pond, Framingham MA May 30, 2023\" style=\"height:0px;object-fit:cover;\" \/><\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FRAMINGHAM, MA &#8211; The Memorial Day weekend and recent hot temperatures brought swimmers to the shores of local beaches, unfortunately for those wanting to swim in Framingham&#8217;s Waushakum Pond the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MA DPH) has issued a PUBLIC HEALTH ADVISORY for the body of water. On May 30th, 2023, the Framingham Park &amp; Recreation&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.framingham.com\/news\/2023\/05\/31\/general-interest\/cyanobacteria-bloom-closes-waushakum-pond\/\">[read more]<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[5071],"class_list":["post-10750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-interest","tag-cyanobacteria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.framingham.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.framingham.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.framingham.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.framingham.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.framingham.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10750"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.framingham.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10760,"href":"https:\/\/www.framingham.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10750\/revisions\/10760"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.framingham.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.framingham.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.framingham.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.framingham.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}