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Laguna Beach spending $1 million to deal with visitor headaches
By Heather McRea | This week in Coast Lines: It is great to be popular, until millions of visitors leave behind trash, get rowdy and annoy the residents, so Laguna Beach is making some changes.
Plus, underwater drones are being used to survey hazardous waste off the Palos Verdes Peninsula, and a beachfront blacktop has become the hottest new roller rink.
Here’s what’s happening along the Southern California coast. |  | Visitors welcome, but there are some changes happening
Laguna Beach has only gotten more popular over the years and its residents more annoyed with the visitors flocking to its beaches and hiking trails.
City officials are making some changes and spending some money to hopefully limit the headaches.
Soon takeout containers better be recyclable, there will be a place to refill your water bottle so don't throw it away and the birds are going to be bummed because encouraging them with food to stick around (and leave all those nasty droppings) will be a no-no.
Read the story. | Getting a better look
A team of researchers spent two weeks studying a previously unknow number of barrels of suspected hazardous chemicals that have sat for decades on the ocean floor off the Palos Verdes Peninsula.
It is worried that the barrels contain DDT, a synthetic insecticide developed in the 1940s and banned in 1972, which has already been found in the area. But the results of the current underwater survey won't be released for a few weeks.
In this latest effort to determine the extent of what is on the ocean floor, the researchers used two autonomous underwater vehicles to conduct a sonar scan to detect debris they can identify as barrels in a larger area of the sea floor than previously possible.
Read the story.
|  | Dusting off those four-wheeled skates
Roller skating is a thing again.
Roller skaters are gliding and twirling along beach boardwalks up and down the Southern California coast as that hot '70s and '80s trend enjoys a resurgence.
"It’s this relaxed thing, this flow state," said Cheryl Meier who has dusted off the skates she hung up decades ago. "I get in that relaxed place and that flow place and you’re not stuck in your thoughts. You’re concentrating on your balance and you’re present. If you’re not present, you’re going to fall."
Read the story. | What else?
E-bikes are getting more and more popular, and Huntington Beach has decided to reverse its ban on riding them on its beachfront path.
Read the story.
There are several bills proposed in California and Washington, D.C., that would push to reduce plastic waste.
Read the story.
You can now plan a visit to see the sea lions recovering at San Pedro's Marine Mammal Care Center.
Read the story.
|  | In the ocean
Black swans are native to Australia, but there is a group of the majestic birds swimming around Newport Beach – to the delight of the locals. Did this gaggle really find their way from the land down under?
Read the story. |
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