Santa Monica-based nonprofit Heal the Bay celebrated its 30th year coordinating its annual Coastal Cleanup Day on Saturday, Sept. 21. With more than 70 cleanup sites in Los Angeles County, participants volunteered to clean up local beaches, rivers, creeks and parks of trash and debris.
Leo Carrillo State Beach site captain for underwater cleanup Geoff Walsh said there were 160 volunteers at Leo Carrillo State Beach this year.
“This year, Leo Carrillo was the premier site because we had the two top diving shops in the area, PCH scuba in Agoura and In 2 Deep Diving from Santa Monica,” Walsh said. “Ocean Defenders Alliance, which is the top cleanup organizers and Heal the Bay, obviously, was in full force.”
California Wildlife Center sponsored the beach clean-up. Debris such as lobster traps were cleaned up from the ocean, in addition to common beach trash such as cigarette butts.
“I think it was an order of magnitude better than last year,” Walsh reported.