While for the most part Hillsmere Shores beach is a safe place to swim. In recent years, there have been troubling spikes in bacteria readings. There is a large resident goose population that could be the cause, but there have been spikes even when they have not been present and it hasn’t rained. With enough data, we hope a pattern will emerge that will point to the source of the bacteria spikes. Click here for historical data. Sampling is performed in summer, so new data will be added starting in late May.