HANAUMA BAY, Hawaii – Honolulu police have reopened a popular beach that was evacuated after the discovery of a suspicious item in the water that turned out to be a flare, Hawaii News Now reports.
The news service says that Hanauma Bay beach was cleared by authorities after a canister washed ashore and was found around 10:40 a.m.
The news service says a lifeguard found it during safety training and alerted authorities. The police bomb squad was called to the scene. Fire officials later confirmed the object was an extended marine flare.
Hanauma Bay, nestled inside a breeched volcanic cone on the southeastern shore of Oahu, has some of the state's calmest waters, most pristine beaches and world-renowned snorkeling over coral reefs that teem with colorful fish.
In 2016, for the second year in a row, the beach was selected as the best beach in America by a Florida professor — Stephen Leatherman, also known as Dr. Beach — who's made a career ranking and studying beaches around the country.
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