Results from advanced water testing in a Southwest Florida bay traced horse DNA to bacteria found around a causeway, adding fuel to a long-standing debate that horses contaminate the waterway.
Scientists with the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program and Suncoast Waterkeeper recently began the advanced sampling to pinpoint percentages of fecal indicator bacteria sources around the Palma Sola Causeway.
The groups collected water samples from all four sides of the causeway and, in three out of four sites, horse DNA was found as a source of fecal bacteria. For the water sample collected from the southeast site, birds were also identified as a source…