A bomb squad from the Massachusetts State Police was called in to handle an undetonated ordnance that had washed up on South Beach Thursday afternoon.

A beachgoer spotted the ordnance around 1 p.m., after which the South Beach beach manager called state police. The munitions were detonated safely at around 5:30 p.m. according to Edgartown officials.

It's common for undetonated flares or munitions to be found on South Shore beaches after storms or in the springtime when beachgoers are more likely to spot debris revealed by erosion of the winter, Edgartown police Sgt. Michael Snowden said.

During World War II, South Beach and other shorelines near Chappaquiddick were used for dive bomb trainings and other munitions operations by American naval planes. Between 1989 and 1994, the military recovered thousands of unexploded devices from South Beach during an ambitious cleanup effort.

“This happens pretty frequently,” Sgt. Snowden said. “This is all normal procedure.”

The town of Edgartown’s text alert system sent a message at 5:26 p.m. warning citizens of the ordnance.

“Please do not be alarmed,” it read.