Vashon-Maury Island, Washington – The Washington State Department of Health released a statement on the King County’s website on Wednesday, August 6, 2014, stating the Quartermaster Harbor beach had been closed.

The closure is due to unsafe levels of Diarrhetic Shellfish Poison or also known as DSP, detected in shellfish on the beaches.  This pertains to all clams, oysters, mussles, geoduck and scallops.

The County is working on installing signage warning the Pulic not to collect the toxic shellfish.

Think you have poisoning? Here are some of the signs:

  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Abdominal pain
  • Diarrhea

Freezing or cooking the toxins from the shellfish do not work and therefore, the Health Department found it necessary to ban shellfish harvesting.  It can only be detected in a lab.

The County recommends the following:

“Recreational shellfish harvesting can be closed due to rising levels of DSP at any time.

Therefore, harvesters are advised to call the DOH Biotoxin Hotline at 1-800-562-5632 or visit the Biotoxin Website before harvesting shellfish anywhere in Puget Sound.”

Please heed to this closure notice which in turn stop anyone from getting very sick and allow authorities to try to rectify the situation by keeping the Public safe.

More information pertaining to this story, can be found on the County [King] website at http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/news/2014/14080601.aspx.

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