Fowl -- as in sea gulls -- foul the beaches

Some Chicagoans are beginning to discover that, although Milwaukee is more fun to blame, the real cause of their beach closing problems is much closer to home.

The Sun Times editorial says, in part:

For years, we've dumped on Milwaukee for befouling the water of Lake Michigan and raising the E. coli bacteria levels in the summer to dangerous highs. It's true that the beer-barreled city to our north has been allowing raw sewage to seep into the lake, particularly after heavy rainstorms. And this sometimes happens in Chicago. But raw sewage is only a small part of why our beaches have been closed two dozen times this season. The real culprits are the gulls.

When UW-Milwaukee's Great Lakes Water Institute released a study showing sea gulls had a lot to do with Milwaukee's beach closings, too, the Milwaukee media laughed at the idea. Later, two of the researchers did a study which found a huge disparity between the causes of beach pollution and what was reported in the media. Milwaukee served as a case study, and the local newspaper got a bad grade. The newspaper reported it, sort of. My earlier post on the subject, "Self-criticism is hard to do."

It's fine to be skeptical. But take a walk along South Shore Beach in Milwaukee, barefoot, and you'll get a better feel for the problem.