On Sunday I headed out to Sandy Point only to be greeted with a swimming ban.  Apparently, the bacteria count is so high that the water isn't safe enough for direct contact.

"The risks really are with direct water contact in terms of swimming. Basically, the risks can be infection, wounds and gastrointestinal illnesses which may lead to nausea, vomiting, diarrhea," Anne Arundel County Environmental Health Director Kerry A. Topovski tells WTOP.

I heard on NPR today that they don't know what's causing the high bacteria levels.  Awesome.

Of course, the posted yellow warning signs did little to keep people from actually swimming.  At any given time there were 5 or 6 kids and several adults swimming or at least playing in the water.  In their infinite wisdom, the Maryland DNR had taken down the guard stands apparently under the misguided notion that people wouldn't dare disobey the yellow sign, thus obviating the need for guards.  So not only were these kids swimming in filth, there were no lifeguards to save them should they drown in said filth.  Occasionally, some whistle-clad teenager in red shorts would jog by and order the people out of the water, but these visits were few and far between.

Something else that I noticed: there are no trash cans.  Not on the beach, not around the concession area.  There are some dumpsters near the picnic area, but no convenient cans anywhere.  I'm more than happy to "leave no trace" DNR people, but meet me halfway here.  Not having a trash can near a concession stand is moronic.