SARASOTA, Fla. ( WWSB ) - The City of Bradenton and local environmentalists are beginning a six-week study to try to find the source of bacteria that has plagued Palma Sola Bay.

Enterococci bacteria, the salt or brackish water version of E.coli, has been found in water at the Palma Sola Causeway, where people have ridden horses for years.

But are the horses to blame for this bacteria? Officials from the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program say horses may not be entirely to blame.

“We had a hit for horses, we had a hit for birds, we had a hit for humans, but we don’t know if getting rid of the horses is going to make any kind of a difference in the bacteria,” said David Tomasko, director of Sarasota Bay Estuary Program.

“We don’t know if the horses are 50%...5%... or 0.5% of the bacteria. If

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