A peaceful beach video turned into something way darker.
South African influencer and former pro kitesurfer Michelle Sky Hayward entered the water off Cape Town, filming what looked like a calm morning swim.
The water was murky. The surface was covered in thick foam.
She didn’t know what it might actually be.
“It got into my mouth.”
After the clip spread, people in the comments warned her the “foam” wasn’t harmless sea foam — it could be connected to sewage discharge in the area.
Hayward later posted a follow-up, admitting the water got into her mouth.
“It tasted a lot more salty than usual,” she said.
She also stayed in the water longer than normal… because it felt warmer.
That warmth is exactly what raised even more alarms.
Warm water doesn’t always mean safe water
Warm patches near shore can come from runoff — and in worst-case scenarios, that can include wastewater.
So what looked like a relaxing “bubble bath” moment on the surface quickly turned into a potential exposure risk.
Not just gross.
A real health concern.
The bigger problem: this isn’t new
South Africa’s “sewage in the sea” issue has been reported for years in multiple coastal areas.
Aging infrastructure, overflows, and failures in wastewater systems can turn parts of the coastline into a public health hazard, especially when people are swimming without any warning.
And that’s the point:
This incident wasn’t just embarrassing.
It was a warning.
How often does this happen without anyone knowing?
One viral video sparked outrage because it showed the problem in real time — someone entering contaminated water and only learning the risk afterward.
But how many people do that every year and never find out?
How many kids swim in it?
How many tourists?
How many locals?
And how would they even know?