Ella Basel, 12, looks forward to Kids Ocean Day, when she can share her passion for the ocean, environment and keeping both clean with other Los Angeles youths.

In past years, she recalls seeing the “happy faces” of kids helping to clean up the ocean and being “astounded” by the amount of trash they found during cleanups, with her group alone filling up 10 bags of trash picked up off the beach one year.

Kids Ocean Day usually sees thousands of children such as Basel, who is a youth ambassador for the organization, running through the sand of Dockweiler Beach, creating formations of whimsical shapes to be photographed from above and a love for the beach abounding.

The yearly event educating and encouraging youth to care for beaches has been canceled this year, with organizers citing “residual pollution from the Palisades fire runoff.” The event organizers hope to return to L.A. beaches next year.

“Some kids, it is their first time going to the beach and they won’t experience that,” Basel said. “We couldn’t really connect with the oceans and help clean up this year… which is very sad as well.”

Kids Ocean Day has been holding programs since 1991 with outreach at schools, focused on environmental education during the year. To close out programs, Kids Ocean Day is held at the end of the school year, bringing all student participants from various schools in Los Angeles to the beach for a trash cleanup, art and exploring the beach.

They focus on high-needs communities and highlight the beauty of L.A. beaches as a counterweight to what children often hear – the negativity about the environment of Los Angeles when litter and pollution are around.

After the Palisades fire burned through more than 20,000 acres, with much of the devastation on and near the coast, it was initially unclear where or for how long there could be an environmental risk at Los Angeles beaches.

“As all of you already know, the children spend some of their time digging deep in the sand, playing in the sand, lunching on the sand and sitting in the sand for the aerial art fly-over,” Kids Ocean Day executive director Michael Klubock said. “Our main purpose is to get the kids to fall in love with the beach. We want the sand to be 100% safe.”

“It has been across the board disappointed, saddened, but we support your decision, we think it’s the right decision,” Klubock said of how teachers who typically bring students to the event reactions to the cancelling.

Volunteers have been supportive of the decision as well, understanding that the organizers are being cautious.

In a March report, drawing from data collected in the days after the fire in January, coastal-focused nonprofit Heal the Bay advised that the water quality “was much better than expected, diminishing fears about human health impacts from polluted runoff in fire-scarred areas.”

The organization noted that marine mammals are at the highest risk due to elevated levels of heavy metals and that most of the contaminants the group tested for were below human health limits.

“Even at low concentrations, heavy metals can disrupt vital biological processes, damage cells, and impair reproductive and immune functions for marine life. Metals can also be transferred and magnified through the food chain. This impacts the entire food web, which inevitably impacts humans,” according to the Heal the Bay report.

But, one potentially damaging organic compound known as PAH, or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which Heal the Bay says is “related to fire-scorched debris,” is still being tested for and may be above human health limits.

PAHs are “unlikely to sicken people who swim or surf a few times, but frequent or prolonged exposure may contribute to an increased risk for future chronic health issues,” according to the nonprofit.

Heal the Bay also noted that sharp debris may be in sand, posing a danger.

Kids Ocean Day organizers said experts were consulted before the group came to the decision to cancel and that marine life sickened by algae blooms washing up on the beach was a concern as well.

The initial insight into the immediate impact of the Palisades fire provided what the organization calls a “snapshot in time” of how the fires affected the water, but is not up to date. Heal the Bay is preparing an update with new data.

The organization continues to recommend that beachgoers choose beaches north of the burn scar in Malibu or to the south of Montana Avenue in Santa Monica. Dockweiler Beach, where Kids Ocean Day is typically held, is south of Montana.

Kids Ocean Day organizers anticipate the event returning in 2026. In the meantime, the group will continue its educational work.

“Think of this as giving the beach and ocean a year to heal,” Klubock said.

Basel, the youth ambassador, is looking forward to the return of Kids Ocean Day next year.

“I’m very excited for the event next year and how all the kids will help clean up the beaches,” Basel said. “I hope that we help the environment very much.”

In the meantime, though Kids Ocean Day is on hold for another year, she has been going to other beaches and encouraging other kids to continue thinking about the “ripple effect” that starting to pick up at the beach may have– others might see and be inspired to help keep beaches clean themselves.

“Pick up trash, even if it is not yours, help our environment, go to beaches if you can and maybe help clean up,” she said.