Seaweed stench fouls Long Island beaches

Point Lookout, NY (Fox5NY) - The ocean is quick way to cool off on a hot and humid day like today - but along parts of Long Island's South Shore - slimy and smelly seaweed is spoiling it for some swimmers.

"It's wet and it's gross," said one swimmer.

Another one couldn't recall the last time it was this bad.

"I'm sinking down to my knees in it. It's bad I don't like it," said Rob Humphries who lives in Point Lookout.

Marine biologists say nitrogen coming from the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant fuels the growth of seaweed in the bay which then pushes into the ocean.

"The combination of the warm weather, the heavy nutrient loading from back in the bay and then the physical movement of the water and tides is accumulating large amounts on the beaches," said Marine Biologist Dr. Christopher Gobler with Stony Brook University. 

Experts says dead seaweed that releases sulfide fumes can be dangerous because it causes irritation.

The Town of Hempstead says their beaches are cleaned twice a day. Meanwhile, Nassau County is working with the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant to remove nitrogen discharge altogether.