OGUNQUIT, Maine (AP) — Thousands of Americans will head to beaches for one last summer splash this Labor Day weekend, but taking a dip might be out of the question: Many of the beaches will caution against swimming because of unsafe levels of fecal contamination.
Beaches from Crystal River, Florida, to Ogunquit, Maine, have been under advisories warning about water quality this week because of elevated levels of bacteria associated with fecal waste. The advisories typically discourage beachgoers from going in the water because the bacteria can cause gastrointestinal illness, rashes and nausea.
There have been closures this week at some of the country's most popular beach destinations, including Keyes Memorial Beach in the Cape Cod village of Hyannis in Barnstable, Massachusetts; Benjamin's Beach on Long Island in Bay Shore, New York; and a portion of the Imperial Beach shoreline near San Diego. Even on the pristine, white sand beaches of Hawaii, the Hawaii State Department of Health is warning of a high bacteria count at Kahaluu Beach Park on the Big Island.
It's a longstanding and widespread problem. Nearly two-thirds of beaches tested nationwide in 2024 experienced at least one day in which indicators of fecal contamination reached potentially unsafe levels, conservation group Environment America said in a report issued this summer.
The group reviewed beaches on the coasts and Great Lakes and found that 84% of Gulf Coast beaches exceeded the standard at least once. The number was 79% for West Coast beaches, 54% for East Coast beaches and 71% for Great Lakes beaches.
The report also said more than 450 beaches were potentially unsafe for swimming on at least 25 percent of the days tested. A key reason is outdated water and sewer systems that allows contamination from sewage to reach the places where people swim, said John Rumpler, clean water director and senior attorney with Environment America.
“These beaches are a treasure for families across New England and across the country. They are a shared resource,” said Rumpler, who is based in Boston. “We need to make the investment to make sure that literally our own human waste doesn't wind up in the places where we are swimming.”
Other factors have also played a role in contaminating beaches, including increasingly severe weather that overwhelms sewage systems, and suburban sprawl that paves over natural areas and reduces the ecosystem's ability to absorb stormwater, Rumpler said.
But many people plan to jump in the ocean anyway. Despite a two-day warning of elevated fecal indicator bacteria last month at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, beachgoer Yaromyr Oryshkevych was not concerned.
“I really don’t expect to be in any kind of danger of fecal contamination,” said Oryshkevych, a retired dentist. He said he didn’t think Rehoboth was close enough to notable pollution to be concerned, and he expected the ocean’s natural currents to take care of any problems with contamination in the area.
Dana West, a federal worker visiting Rehoboth Beach, recalled an instance earlier this year where a dozen members of his vacationing party experienced gastrointestinal issues. The symptoms occurred after they went on a snorkeling excursion, an activity that increases the likelihood of swallowing seawater, off the coast of Isla Mujeres, Mexico.
It was an unpleasant experience, but he doesn't expect a repeat this weekend in Delaware.
“But generally, I have no concerns about the level of fecal and bacterial matter,” said West while admiring Rehoboth’s shore. ”I assume the local authorities will tell us if there are higher levels than normal.”
Despite West's confidence, some beaches in the area of Rehoboth, including nearby Rehoboth Bay and Dewey Beach bayside, were indeed under water advisories this week. Such advisories are not always posted on public signs.
Environment America assessed beach safety in its report by examining whether fecal bacteria levels exceeded standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that trigger an alert to avoid the water. Fecal bacteria at those levels can cause illness in 32 out of every 1,000 swimmers.
In North Carolina, five beaches were under advisories in late August because of elevated levels of fecal bacteria. The beaches are open, but swimmers are advised that going in the water could be risky, said Erin Bryan-Millush, environmental program supervisor with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.
Hurricane Erin caused extensive erosion and storm surge in some coastal areas, according to the Department of Environmental Quality. Heavy rain events this summer also exacerbated the contamination problem in some areas, Bryan-Millush said.
“Those storm drains carry everything,” Bryan-Millush said. “It could be really bad for someone who is immune compromised.”
Lau reported from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
People relax at Rehoboth Beach, Del., on Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Mingson Lau)
People relax at Rehoboth Beach, Del., on Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Mingson Lau)
HAVANA (AP) — Trumpets and drums played solemnly at Havana's airport Thursday as white-gloved Cuban soldiers marched out of a plane carrying urns with remains of the 32 Cuban officers killed during a stunning U.S. attack on Venezuela.
Nearby, thousands of Cubans lined one of Havana’s most iconic streets to await the bodies as the island remained under threat by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The soldiers' shoes clacked as they marched stiff-legged into the headquarters of the Ministry of the Armed Forces and placed the urns on a long table next to the pictures of those killed. Tens of thousands of people paid their respects, saluting the urns or holding their hand over their heart, many of them drenched from standing outside in a heavy downpour.
Thursday’s mass funeral was only one of a handful that the Cuban government has organized over the past half-century.
The soldiers were part of the security detail of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro during the Jan. 3 raid on his residence to seize the former leader and bring him to the U.S. to face drug trafficking charges.
State television also showed images of what it said were more than a dozen wounded combatants from the raid, accompanied by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez after arriving Wednesday night from Venezuela. A man identified in state media as Col. Pedro Domínguez attended Thursday's ceremony in a wheelchair.
He said it was a “disproportionate attack” that killed 11 colleagues around him as they slept. Domínguez said he was committed to doing “whatever it takes to defend this people and to remain united in the face of threats from the United States.”
Tensions between Cuba and the U.S. have spiked, with Trump recently demanding that the Caribbean country make a deal with him before it is “too late.” He did not explain what kind of deal.
Trump also has said that Cuba will no longer live off Venezuela's money and oil. Experts warn that the abrupt end of oil shipments could be catastrophic for Cuba, which is already struggling with serious blackouts and a crumbling power grid.
Officials unfurled a massive flag at Havana's airport as President Miguel Díaz-Canel, clad in military garb, stood silent next to former President Raúl Castro, with what appeared to be the relatives of those killed looking on nearby.
Cuban Interior Minister Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas called the slain soldiers “heroes” of an anti-imperialist struggle spanning both Cuba and Venezuela. In an apparent reference to the U.S., he said the “enemy” speaks of “high-precision operations, of troops, of elites, of supremacy.
“We, on the other hand, speak of faces, of families who have lost a father, a son, a husband, a brother,” Álvarez said.
The events demonstrate that “imperialism may possess more sophisticated weapons; it may have immense material wealth; it may buy the minds of the wavering; but there is one thing it will never be able to buy: the dignity of the Cuban people,” he said.
Carmen Gómez, a 58-year-old industrial designer, was among the thousands of Cubans who lined a street where motorcycles and military vehicles thundered by with the remains of those killed.
“They are people willing to defend their principles and values, and we must pay tribute to them,” Gómez said. “It’s because of the sense of patriotism that Cubans have, and that will always unite us.”
The 32 military personnel ranged in age from 26 to 60 and were part of protection agreements between the two countries.
Officials in Cuba have said they expect a massive demonstration Friday across from the U.S. Embassy to protest the deaths.
“People are upset and hurt ... many do believe that the dead are martyrs” of a historic struggle against the United States, analyst and former diplomat Carlos Alzugaray told The Associated Press.
In October 1976, then-President Fidel Castro led a massive demonstration to bid farewell to the 73 people killed in the bombing of a civilian flight financed by anti-revolutionary leaders in the U.S. Most of the victims were Cuban athletes.
In December 1989, officials organized a ceremony to honor the more than 2,000 Cuban combatants who died in Angola during Cuba’s participation in a war that defeated the South African army.
In October 1997, memorial services were held following the arrival of the remains of guerrilla commander Ernesto “Che” Guevara and six of his comrades, who died in 1967.
The latest mass burial is critical to honor those slain, said José Luis Piñeiro, a 60-year-old doctor who lived for four years in Venezuela.
“I don’t think Trump is crazy enough to come and enter a country like this, ours, and if he does, he’s going to have to take an aspirin or some painkiller to avoid the headache he’s going to get,” Piñeiro said. “These were 32 heroes who fought him. Can you imagine an entire nation? He’s going to lose.”
The remains arrived a day after the U.S. announced $3 million in additional aid to help the island recover from the catastrophic Hurricane Melissa. The first flight took off on Wednesday, and a second flight was scheduled for Friday. A commercial vessel also will deliver food and other supplies.
Cuba had said on Wednesday that any contributions will be channeled through the government.
But U.S. State Department foreign assistance official Jeremy Lewin said Thursday that the U.S. was working with Cuba’s Catholic Church to distribute aid, as part of Washington's efforts to give assistance directly to the Cuban people.
“There’s nothing political about cans of tuna and rice and beans and pasta,” he said Thursday, warning that the Cuban government should not intervene or divert supplies. “We will be watching, and we will hold them accountable.”
Lewin said the Cuban government has a choice to: “Step down or better provide towards people.” Lewin added that “if there was no regime,” the U.S. would provide “billions and billions of dollars” in assistance, as well as investment and development: “That’s what lies on the other side of the regime for the Cuban people.”
Rodríguez, the Cuban foreign minister, said the U.S. government was “exploiting what appears to be a humanitarian gesture for opportunistic and politically manipulative purposes.”
Coto contributed from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
People line up outside the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces where the remains are on display of the Cuban officers who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured President Nicolas Maduro, as it sprinkles rain in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Military members line up outside the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces where the urns containing the remains of Cuban officers, killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured President Nicolas Maduro, are on display in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Military members pay their last respects to Cuban officers who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, at the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces where the urns containing the remains are displayed during a ceremony in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A motorcade transports urns containing the remains of Cuban officers, who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, through Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Soldiers carry urns containing the remains of Cuban officers, who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, at the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Adalberto Roque /Pool Photo via AP)
A motorcade transports urns containing the remains of Cuban officers, who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, through Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A motorcade transports urns containing the remains of Cuban officers, who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, through Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
People line the streets of Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, to watch the motorcade carrying urns containing the remains of Cuban officers killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Workers fly the Cuban flag at half-staff at the Anti-Imperialist Tribune near the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, in memory of Cubans who died two days before in Caracas, Venezuela during the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by U.S. forces. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
