A woman has been left horrified after she mistakenly swam through “raw sewage”.
Michelle Sky Hayward was confused when she went for her morning dip and realised the water was darker and foamier than usual.
But it was only after she posted a video of herself relaxing in the sea that her TikTok viewers solved the mystery.
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The 33-year-old created a response video where she showed clips of the water and people’s comments.
And it gathered over 2.3m views.
“When I was swimming in it, I had no idea that it was sewage,” Michelle, an ex-professional kitesurfer and content creator, told What’s The Jam.
“When I got into the car, my husband said it looked like I had sewage on my face, and we joked about it, not knowing that it was, in fact, true.
“Only once all the comments started coming through did I realise what I had done.
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“Some locals also said that they had seen on the news about sewage leaking into the ocean at that particular beach.
“I noticed the water looked darker than usual, especially in that particular spot.
“I had been swimming there many times before, and the water was usually always very clear, but this time it was brown and murky.
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“It was also a bit warmer than usual, so I stayed in for a lot longer than I usually would.
“It definitely got in my mouth. I was going underwater and playing around in the foam.
“I tasted some when a wave was breaking near me, and it tasted a lot more salty than usual.”
Michelle hasn’t been sick and so far “seems fine.”
She said: “People in the comments of the video debated about what exactly it was – was it sewage, normal ocean foam, decaying ocean life matter or something else.
“The comments were divided over what I was swimming in, but generally, everyone was quite disgusted by the foam.”
In the first clip, Michelle can be seen swimming in the murky waters and smiling at the camera.
Brown fluids appear on her face and neck
In the second clip, Michelle can be seen holding her phone up.
She gets some of the foam in her mouth and jokes that it is salty before responding to comments from the first video by showing them on the screen.
People had said things such as “that foam is turds” and “SEWAGE WATER!!”
It has since gained 24,500 likes and 1,100 comments.
Nancy said: “Girl, I would be crying for a week straight.”
Someone else added: “Darling, is that safe?”
Another user said: “Swimming in sewerage.”
Elise added: “Was coming to comment to NOT touch the foam.”
Someone else said: “Is she ok? Cus that AINT sea foam.”
Steven added: “If this is in fact true, I’d go to the er and get some bloodwork.”
Roel said: “True its kaka foam.”
Michelle, from South Africa, added: “My love for the ocean runs deep, and nothing will stop me from swimming and enjoying the water.
“I love kitesurfing, stand-up paddle boarding, and of course, swimming and nothing is going to change, despite this horrific experience.”
The incident happened on Bloubergstrand beach, Cape Town, South Africa, on 9 July.
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