Needles, medical waste wash up on shore at Venice Beach

VENICE, LOS ANGELES -- More than 100 needles and other medical waste items were found washed up on the shoreline in Venice on Sunday, prompting a beach closure and an investigation.

The medical waste consisted mostly of needles and lancets, which are used to prick fingers for blood samples.

Lifeguards found the items on the beach just south of the Venice Beach pier around 11:30 a.m. They closed off the beach while a cleanup effort was launched.

The beach reopened later in the afternoon, but lifeguards kept up a careful patrol on the beach and in the water to look out for any other items.

Authorities were investigating where the medical waste came from and how it ended up on the beach.

"I'm disgusted about it," said one local resident. "Number two, I'm concerned about where it comes from."