Oil from the Deepwater Horizon explosion has greatly affected Gulf  beaches from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle. On Wednesday, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) said their annual beach water quality survey indicated beaches were closed or warnings posted almost 10 times more often this summer than last. Reasons varied but were mainly due to bacteria or viruses in the water.

More than 2,200 closings, health advisories or notices were issued by state or local authorities through Tuesday because of oil from the massive lengthy spill. Last year during the same time frame, the number was 237.

The NRDC report revealed the oil spill tainted 49 of 253 beach areas it monitors in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida. As of now, Texas beaches haven’t had any closings or advisories.

Government scientists estimate between 94 million and 184 million gallons of oil has spewed into the Gulf after the April 20 oil rig blast that killed 11 workers. Tar balls, oil sheen and strong petroleum odors have definitely redefined the term ‘a day at the beach.’

There has been no clear pattern in warnings or closings after BP temporarily capped the well. Although crude is no longer gushing into the Gulf, the group said oil remains in the water and the incidence of beach landings fluctuates.

It is left to each state whether they want to merely issue a health advisory or close the beach, said the study.

The NRDC usually studies bacteria and viruses at popular beaches, but health effects from oil can be similar: rashes, nausea and stomach maladies, said program director David Beckman. Oil can also attribute to long-term neurological and reproduction problems.

“The visual image of seeing oil on a beach or smelling that kind of industrial oil at a place that you go to escape from the city to enjoy nature is really an assault on the senses,” Beckman said, quoted the Associated Press.

According to the organization’s statistics, Louisiana beaches had the most damage: 11 of the 28 monitored beach segments have been shut down this summer, with 793 combined days of closings compared to 180 advisory days this time last year.

In Alabama, there were 307 combined days of beach advisories, compared to no advisory days last year. Gulf Shores, Alabama’s Public Beach was the only one along the Gulf Coast to receive the groups’s 5-star rating for water quality, based on 2009 data, but has been out of service for 53 days because of the spill, said the study.

Only 16 of Florida’s 180 beaches in the western part of the Panhandle were affected with 442 days of advisories. There were none last year during the same period.

In 2008, at least 60 percent of Florida vacation dollars was spent in beachfront cities, wrote the AP. Hoping to lure oil-fearing tourists, state officials are beefing up interactive Web maps and Twitter feeds to show potential visitors just how big, beautiful and largely unaffected by oil, the state is.

First lady Michelle Obama walked barefoot along a Panhandle beach earlier this month to encourage hesitant tourists to come down. Next month, the whole family is scheduled to vacation somewhere in the Panhandle.