Impromptu floatilla in Honolulu trashes coastline

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HONOLULU (AP) — An impromptu, word-of-mouth celebration at a Honolulu beach left some locals unhappy on Memorial Day morning.

HONOLULU (AP) — An impromptu, word-of-mouth celebration at a Honolulu beach left some locals unhappy on Memorial Day morning.

Hawaii News Now reports (https://bit.ly/1P5rXxz ) that hundreds of beachgoers participated in the Floatilla event in Waikiki, but they left a mess for others to pick up the next morning.

Pohai McWhirter and some friends spent nearly two hours picking up and throwing away all the trash on Monday morning. They found nearly 200 flotation devices scattered on the beach, as well as alcohol bottles, coolers and shoes left behind.

Environmentalist Kahi Pacarro is trying to preserve the reputation of the unrelated Fourth of July Floatilla, during which Pacarro’s group, Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii, helps keep the coast clean.

The organizers of Sunday’s event called the trashed beach “heartbreaking.”