The swimming advisories issued last week for two Beaufort County sites have been lifted.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Marine Fisheries, sent notice out Thursday that bacteria levels have dropped to within the state’s and Environmental Protection Agency’s standards at the public access to Pantego Creek, at East Main and Tooley streets in Belhaven, and the junction of upper Goose Creek and Dinah’s Landing near Washington.

The signs advising against swimming, skiing or otherwise coming into contact with the water went up last week after the bacteria enterococci was found at levels exceeding standards — for Pantego Creek, that was a monthly average higher than the EPA-mandated level; in upper Goose Creek, samples measured 364 enterococci per 100 milliliters of water, which is substantially higher than the 276 enterococci per 100 milliliters of water allowed for low-usage sites.

Levels of enterococci, a bacteria found in the intestines of warm-blooded animals, tend to rise after heavy rainfall. The bacteria does not cause illness, but is closely correlated to the presence of other organisms that can cause gastrointestinal illness, according to a press release from Marine Fisheries.

The swim advisory signs have been removed from the two sites, but those swimming in Beaufort County waterways should remain cautious of algal blooms. Algae found in samples taken by Tar-Pamlico riverkeeper Heather Deck on July 22 was identified as filamentous blue-green algae. Known to cause a “Crayola green” discoloration of the water, it’s responsible for the greenish hue of upper Bath Creek, as well as the extremely high oxygen saturation levels of samples taken from Goose Creek last Friday.

Blue-green algae is able to produce cyanotoxins, which can cause illnesses in humans and have been attributed to death of pets and livestock, but no such cases have been reported in North Carolina, according to a report by algal ecologist Elizabeth Fensin, with DEQ’s Division of Water Resources.

“It’s not necessarily toxic, it’s just really concentrated, and that makes it a potential irritant to the human health system,” said Jill Paxson, environmental senior specialist with DWR. “We haven’t had any cases of any of these species that I’m aware of in North Carolina.”

Paxson said she’s been fielding phone calls from concerned residents asking if the water is safe to swim in. Her response has been to tell them to use caution, she said.

“Every day it can change. We’ve had nothing but hot sunny days and some rain. Rain is good for flushing things out, but this particular strain of algae likes the fresh water,” Paxson said. “If it looks weird, if it looks odd, don’t get it in. With children, no open scabs or wounds. … If you have dogs that like to go swimming, give them a bath and rinse them off.”

She said there were some reports of dead fish from Core Point and River Acres on Thursday, but those might be attributed to shock from high water temperatures inundated with much cooler rain from recent storms.

“You go from water that’s 32 degrees Celsius, which is essentially bath water, and the rain is like an arctic blast,” Paxson said. “They can handle change, just not sudden change. They’re already lethargic and their health compromised because it’s so hot.”

Paxson said more testing would be done, from Minnesott Beach to Core Point, on Friday.