Beachgoers in Florida left around 12,000 pounds of trash on the first weekend the beach was reopened after the coronavirus closure measures.

The police are now trying to find the people that left the massive piles of trash at Cocoa Beach in Florida.

Keep Brevard Beach Beautiful, a non-profit organization collected 297 bags of trash that were left behind by beachgoers.

The Cocoa Beach got reopened for the first time in weeks.

The real figure could be higher as chairs, tents, and umbrellas were also abandoned at the beach, said Bryan Bobbitt, the executive director of KBBB.

On an average, around 30 to 40 bags of trash are collected during this time of the year, but instead, they got nearly 300 this time.

Bobbitt said:

The numbers we are seeing right now rival Memorial Day and Fourth of July weekend.

Talking about why it is very dangerous to leave these types of things behind, Bobbitt said it could harm animals.

He explained:

When we see something that can be a choking hazard to marine life, we make it a point to get that stuff as well. We’ve all seen the photo of the straw stuck in a sea turtle’s nose or a six-pack ring around a bird’s neck.

The Cocoa Beach Police Department responded to the uptick of trash in a May 8, 2020, post on Facebook, where they announced that anyone who litters on the beach will be fined $250.

They said:

As restrictions are becoming more relaxed during this pandemic, the City of Cocoa Beach is beginning to see an influx of day-trippers to our beaches, along with piles of unlawfully discarded trash in their wake. This will not be tolerated.

Detective Sgt. Thomas Cooper said that 10,000 visited the Cocoa Beach this weekend.