California beaches threatened by fire pollution

The Palisades and Eaton fires, which occurred in January, have significantly impacted California’s marine ecosystem. With a large amount of debris contaminating the ocean, there is potential for an ecological crisis. Approximately 4.5 million tons of toxic waste were generated from the fires, some of which is now being washed up on the Los Angeles Coast. This includes harmful pollutants and carcinogenic [cancer-causing] chemicals. With this, the Los Angeles County Department of Health prohibited swimming at beaches, with undisclosed dates of when they are going to be opened back up to the public. 

Santa Monica Beach, among others, is now full of endless thick lines of dark black and brown debris with ash and remnants of trees, homes and brush being washed up from the ocean along with water discoloration.

Samo marine biology teacher Benjamin Kay has his own concerns about the beach. 

“What I'm worried about for Samo students and families is that people are going to, based on early scientific results, say it's okay to go to the beach and go to swim. They're going to then expose themselves to maybe these smaller concentrations of toxic chemicals,” Kay said. 

“With repeated exposures, it can lead to long-term health issues such as cancer.” 

Although the debris is causing health concerns, clean-up processes have been delayed due to hazardous conditions. This is directly tied to the possibility of further long-term damage to ecosystems and the shoreline. The longer the debris stays, the higher the chance of it leaching into the soil and sand. This is coupled with offshore winds that can carry these hazardous particles and spread them further along the coast.

Many samples of debris from various impacted beaches along the coast have been sent off to local departments to be tested, with hopes of determining the percentage of harmful chemicals and fecal bacteria. The ultimate goal of this work is to determine when beaches can be reopened to the public. 

The sediment has leached off into the ocean different types of nutrients providing good conditions for algal blooms with many negative repercussions affecting marine life. 

Algal blooms are a big contributor to marine life dying for various reasons. The decomposition process of algae consumes large amounts of oxygen, creating dead zones where marine life suffocates due to lack of oxygen. Additionally, there are neurotoxins that are emitted from harmful algae blooms that poison fish and other animals. With animals being killed off it also affects the marine food chain, amplifying marine life death and worsening the already dire situation happening with ocean pollutant contamination. 

With so much contamination, many Samo students are affected, more specifically surf athletes. The Department of Health has deemed Santa Monica waters unsafe, making the Samo surfers ineligible to train there. Since January, the surf team has been unable to train in Santa Monica, significantly disrupting their training plans. Consequently, they travel to Huntington Beach for water practice, where contamination levels are lower.

Samo surf team captain Sierra Pacifici (’25) speaks out about how water contamination has had a big impact on the surf program. 

“Right now we are doing a lot of activities on land, such as skateboarding, ab workouts and on-land workouts, so this has resulted in us not being able to surf for a little over 2 months. This has had a major impact on our overall performance,” Pacifici said.

This uncertainty surrounding water safety has forced surfers to stay on land, significantly affecting their training and performance.

“Right now there is a lack of transparency with the Los Angeles Health Department, they’re not sharing all the information and it's very hard to find the information online,” Kay said. 

“So until I, as a scientist, see the ways and sample size and the methods used to do the science, I am going to remain skeptical about any scientific result that says it's safe to go in the water.”

The state of the beach will be continuously monitored by public health officials and scientists throughout the coming months. Before entering the ocean, it is important to remain cognizant of the relevant information regarding safety.