Science
Fire debris is washing up on L.A.’s beaches. County officials warn the public to steer clear
The gunk has turned up on shorelines from Malibu to Redondo Beach: ghostly lines of charred black bits and melted debris left behind by retreating waves.
It’s a mix of ash, sand and pulverized flecks of burned wood and plastic, material destroyed during January’s fires and then washed into the sea by recent rains.
The county Department of Beaches and Harbors declared last week that the stuff was “not hazardous to beachgoers or the environment,” based on initial testing of samples taken from Will Rogers State Beach and Topanga Lagoon in late January.
The department also said that the sediment won’t be removed under the county’s ongoing efforts to clear fire debris from shorelines.
“Attempting to scrape it from rocks and sand could destroy marine habitats, erode the shoreline, and cause long-term environmental damage,” the department said in a statement. “Instead, natural tides and weather will gradually break down and wash away the sediment, allowing the ecosystem to recover naturally.”
Initial testing by the Department of Public Works found that heavy metals, petroleum hydrocarbons, chlorinated pesticides, polychlorinated biphenol (PCBs), volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds, and asbestos were below levels that would characterize the debris as hazardous waste.
The county is still advising beachgoers to steer clear of visible fire debris. Local environmental groups also urged caution.
“Risk tolerance is a deeply personal choice and right now the limited data that has been shared hasn’t identified concentrations of contaminants that pose a health risk,” said Tracy Quinn, president of the environmental nonprofit Health the Bay. “I personally will be waiting until additional lab results are back before getting in the water between Santa Monica State Beach and Dockweiler.”
The combination of last month’s fires and ensuing heavy rains sent unprecedented amounts of ash, debris and chemical residue coursing into the sea via the region’s massive network of storm drains and concrete-lined rivers.
The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board is working with the county to test ocean water near areas affected by the fires, which burned more than 40,000 acres across the L.A. region last month.
Unlike rural wildfires fueled by organic material, the Palisades and Eaton fires consumed homes and businesses. Flowing into the sea are the burned remnants of cars, plastics, batteries, household chemicals and other potentially toxic material.
“I don’t think there’s a precedent for this kind of input into the ocean ecosystem,” marine biologist Noelle Bowlin said at the time.
In late January, county public health officials deemed ocean water off-limits to beachgoers from Las Flores State Beach in Malibu to Santa Monica State Beach, citing concerns about potential toxic or carcinogenic chemicals in the sand and water.
Even after the closures were downgraded to advisories, health officials warned the public to stay away from fire debris in the area, noting that runoff flowing onto or pooling on the sand could contain harmful substances.
Within days of the fires’ eruption, ash and charred debris carried by the winds littered the ocean’s surface as far as 100 miles offshore. Wind and waves have since distributed charred material down the county’s coastline.
County agencies said the initial sediment testing that the beaches and harbors department has referred to was conducted by the Department of Public Works after Jan. 26, when the region saw its first rainfall in nine months.
The water board has said it is planning in coming weeks to test the dark sediment accumulating on the beaches for fire-related compounds such as heavy metals, PCBs and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
The latter two are endocrine-disrupting chemicals associated with health problems in humans and wildlife.
As part of its ocean monitoring efforts, the water board already collected seawater samples on Jan. 22, Jan. 27, Feb. 6 and Feb.18 to analyze for heavy metals, bacteria, PCBs and PAHs.
“These are chemicals that we expect to see in water runoff after a fire, based on all of our experience with previous fires in California,” the water board’s assistant executive officer, Jenny Newman, said during a Feb. 18 town hall organized by the public health department.
Though data isn’t back from the most recent testing date, the first three rounds showed lower-than-expected levels of lead, cadmium and other heavy metals, the board said.
The samples also came back with levels of PAHs and naturally occurring metals such as iron, manganese and selenium that were above water-quality standards, the board said. All are substances typically found in wildfire runoff, and the board expects to see levels decline over time, Newman said.
Once testing of the sediment starts, “we’re going to sample the beaches for as far away as where dark sand is being observed,” Newman said. “We’ll share that data with the public when it’s available.”
Our universe might be chock-full of cosmic wonder, but you can observe only a fraction of astronomical phenomena with the naked eye. Meteor showers, natural fireworks that streak brightly across the night sky, are one of them.
The latest observable meteor shower will be the Lyrids, which has been active since April 14 and is forecast to continue through April 30. The shower reaches its peak April 21 to 22, or Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.
According to NASA, the Lyrids are one of the oldest known meteor showers, and have been enjoyed by stargazers for nearly 3,000 years. Their bright, speedy streaks are caused by the dusty debris from a comet named Thatcher. They appear to spring from the constellation Lyra, which right now can be seen in the eastern sky at night in the Northern Hemisphere.
The moon will be about 27 percent full tonight, appearing as a thick crescent in the sky, according to the American Meteor Society.
To get a hint at when to best watch for the Lyrids, you can use this tool, which relies on data from the Global Meteor Network. It shows fireball activity levels in real time.
And while you gaze at the heavens, keep an eye out for other stray meteors streaking across the night sky. Skywatchers are reporting that the amount of fireballs is double what is usually seen by this point in the year.
Where meteor showers come from
There is a chance you might see a meteor on any given night, but you are most likely to catch one during a shower. Meteor showers are caused by Earth passing through the rubble trailing a comet or asteroid as it swings around the sun. This debris, which can be as small as a grain of sand, leaves behind a glowing stream of light as it burns up in Earth’s atmosphere.
Meteor showers occur around the same time every year and can last for days or weeks. But there is only a small window when each shower is at its peak, which happens when Earth reaches the densest part of the cosmic debris. The peak is the best time to look for a shower. From our point of view on Earth, the meteors will appear to come from the same point in the sky.
The Perseid meteor shower, for example, peaks in mid-August from the constellation Perseus. The Geminids, which occur every December, radiate from the constellation Gemini.
How to watch a meteor shower
Michelle Nichols, the director of public observing at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, recommends forgoing the use of telescopes or binoculars while watching a meteor shower.
“You just need your eyes and, ideally, a dark sky,” she said.
That’s because meteors can shoot across large swaths of the sky, so observing equipment can limit your field of view.
Some showers are strong enough to produce up to 100 streaks an hour, according to the American Meteor Society, though you probably won’t see that many.
“Almost everybody is under a light-polluted sky,” Ms. Nichols said. “You may think you’re under a dark sky, but in reality, even in a small town, you can have bright lights nearby.”
Planetariums, local astronomy clubs or even maps like this one can help you figure out where to go to escape excessive light. The best conditions for catching a meteor shower are a clear sky with no moon or cloud cover, sometime between midnight and sunrise. (Moonlight affects visibility in the same way as light pollution, washing out fainter sources of light in the sky.) Make sure to give your eyes at least 30 minutes to adjust to seeing in the dark.
Ms. Nichols also recommends wearing layers, even during the summer. “You’re going to be sitting there for quite a while, watching,” she said. “It’s going to get chilly, even in August.”
Bring a cup of cocoa or tea for even more warmth. Then lie back, scan the sky and enjoy the show.
Where weather is least likely to affect your view
Storm systems sweep across the country in early spring, and some will be obscuring skies tonight. But there will still be plenty of areas with clear skies, particularly in parts of the central United States.
“The best spot is going to be in the Upper Midwest,” said Rich Bann, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center.
Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa will offer especially good sky-viewing weather and a beach on the Great Lakes could be a nice spot to look up at the stars.
But don’t expect to view the show from Chicago, as Illinois could see some thunderstorms. The weather will be better in the Northern and Central Plains, particularly the eastern Dakotas.
High, wispy clouds are expected over the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys and into parts of the Mid-Atlantic. But, Mr. Bann said, “you may be able to see some shooting stars through thin clouds.”
Clouds will be draped across much of the Southeast and the Northeast, though there could be some clearing in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia. Remember, the meteors could be visible all night long. If you look outside and see clouds, try again later.
Catching the spectacle will be challenging across much of the West, particularly from Washington into Northern California, where a storm system is bringing rain and snow. That system will move east overnight.
There are likely to be some pockets of clear skies at times across southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southwest Utah, Mr. Bann said.
Amy Graff contributed reporting.
WASHINGTON — Amid growing national security concerns, the FBI said Tuesday that it has launched a broad investigation in the deaths or disappearances of at least 10 scientists and staff connected to highly sensitive research, including four from the Los Angeles area.
“The FBI is spearheading the effort to look for connections into the missing and deceased scientists. We are working with the Department of Energy, Department of War, and with our state and state and local law enforcement partners to find answers,” the agency said in a statement.
The FBI’s announcement comes after the House Oversight Committee announced that it would investigate reports of the disappearance and deaths of the scientists, sending letters seeking information from the agencies involved in the federal inquiry as well as NASA, which owns the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, where three of the missing or dead scientists worked.
“If the reports are accurate, these deaths and disappearances may represent a grave threat to U.S. national security and to U.S. personnel with access to scientific secrets,” Reps. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the committee, and Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) wrote in the letters.
President Trump told reporters last week that he had been briefed on the missing and dead scientists, which he described as “pretty serious stuff.” He said at the time that he expected answers on whether the deaths were connected “in the next week and a half.”
Michael David Hicks, who studied comets and asteroids at JPL, was the first of the scientists who disappeared or died. He died on July 30, 2023, at the age of 59. No cause of death was disclosed.
A year later, JPL physicist Frank Maiwald died at 61, with no cause of death disclosed.
Two other Los Angeles scientists are part of the string of deaths and disappearances.
On June 22, 2025, Monica Jacinto Reza, a materials scientist at JPL, disappeared while on a hike near Mt. Waterman in the San Gabriel Mountains.
On Feb. 16, Caltech astrophysicist Carl Grillmair was fatally shot on the porch of his Llano home. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department arrested Freddy Snyder, 29, in connection with the shooting. Snyder had been arrested in December on suspicion of trespassing on Grillmair’s property.
Snyder has been charged with murder.
There is no evidence at this point that the deaths and disappearances, which occurred over a span of four years, are connected.
A spokesperson for NASA, which owns JPL, said in a statement on X that the agency is “coordinating and cooperating with the relevant agencies in relation to the missing scientists.
“At this time, nothing related to NASA indicates a national security threat,” agency spokesperson Bethany Stevens wrote. “The agency is committed to transparency and will provide more information as able.”
Representatives from Caltech, which manages JPL, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The sun had barely risen over the Pacific Ocean when a small motorboat carrying a team of Indigenous artisans and Mexican biologists dropped anchor in a rocky cove near Bahías de Huatulco.
Mauro Habacuc Avendaño Luis, one of the craftsmen, was the first to wade to shore. With an agility belying his age, he struck out over the boulders exposed by low tide. Crouching on a slippery ledge pounded by surf, he reached inside a crevice between two rocks. There, lodged among the urchins, was a snail with a knobby gray shell the size of a walnut. The sight might not dazzle tourists who travel here to see humpback whales, but for Mr. Avendaño, 85, these drab little mollusks represent a way of life.
Marine snails in the genus Plicopurpura are sacred to the Mixtec people of Pinotepa de Don Luis, a small town in southwestern Oaxaca. Men like Mr. Avendaño have been sustainably “milking” them for radiant purple dye for at least 1,500 years. The color suffuses Mixtec textiles and spiritual beliefs. Called tixinda, it symbolizes fertility and death, as well as mythic ties between lunar cycles, women and the sea.
The future of these traditions — and the fate of the snails — are uncertain. The mollusks are subject to intense poaching pressure despite federal protections intended to protect them. Fishermen break them (and the other mollusks they eat) open and sell the meat to local restaurants. Tourists who comb the beaches pluck snails off the rocks and toss them aside.
A severe earthquake in 2020 thrust formerly submerged parts of their habitat above sea level, fatally tossing other mollusks in the snail’s food web to the air, and making once inaccessible places more available to poachers.
Decades ago, dense clusters of snails the size of doorknobs were easy to find, according to Mr. Avendaño. “Full of snails,” he said, sweeping a calloused, violet-stained hand across the coves. Now, most of the snails he finds are small, just over an inch, and yield only a few milliliters of dye.
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