The surf was up and so was a tide of medical waste that came ashore yesterday at Avalon, N.J., and forced lifeguards to close three-quarters of a mile of beach between Ninth and 21st Streets.
An estimated 150 items, including used intravenous needles and cotton swabs, were found and about 1,000 people evacuated, public information officer Scott Wahl said. That portion of the beach was expected to remain closed until at least this morning, when it will be reinspected, he said.
Investigators were not sure of the waste's origin, but Wahl said the needles should be easy to track through their serial numbers.
"It's a shame. It was a beautiful day, a perfect day," said Michael Behr, 44, of Philadelphia, who is on a weeklong vacation and was strolling with his wife about 9:30 a.m. when he saw the commotion over the needles in the surf.
Behr said that the needles were attached to thin, IV-like tubes, and that Avalon officials had taken quick action.
"The beach patrol was all over it," he said. "They had a police boat driving down the coast 20 yards out . . . and lifeguards collecting the needles with shovels, plastic buckets and paper bags."
A vacationing nurse drew circles in the sand around the needles so lifeguards could more quickly spot the debris, Behr said.
"They quietly got everyone out," he said, adding that it did not spoil his vacation. "We just adjusted. Part of the family went down the 30th Street section of the beach."