Mysterious ball-shaped debris washed ashore on nine beaches in Australia’s Northern Sydney, prompting authorities to close the beaches.
The Northern Beaches Council advised the public not to visit Manly, Dee Why, Long Reef, Queenscliff, Freshwater, North and South Curl Curl, North Steyne and North Narrabeen beaches on Tuesday (Jan 14) after the unusual debris washed up on the shores.
The council said that they were alerted about the debris via the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and are closely working with the state agency to collect samples and send them for testing.
“So far, most samples identified are marble-sized with a few larger in size,” the Northern Beaches Council wrote on Facebook. “The Council is organising the safe removal of the matter and is inspecting other beaches.”
“Nine beaches in the Northern Beaches are closed after white/grey, ball-shaped debris was found washed up along the shore,” the council said.
According to the Guardian, the debris was described as “grease balls” by a spokesperson.
“Sydney Water can confirm there have been no issues with the normal operations of the Warriewood, North Head, Bondi, Malabar, and Cronulla Water Resource Recovery plants,” the spokesperson said, as quoted by Guardian.
“We comply with our licences as set by the NSW EPA and only discharge compliant wastewater during normal operations,” they added.
On the other hand, Sue Heins, the Northern Beaches mayor, said that the balls “could be anything.”
“We don’t know at the moment what it is and that makes it even more concerning,” she said. “There’s something that’s obviously leaking or dropping or whatever and floating out there and being tossed around. But who’s actually dropped it or lost it or leaked it is something none of us know.”
Not the first time mystery debris seen on beaches
This recent discovery comes after thousands of spherical-shaped debris washed up on several beaches of eastern suburbs including Bondi, Bronte, Coogee and Tamarama in October 2024, prompting authorities to close them temporarily.
Investigation into the earlier incident revealed that the balls were human-generated waste. According to the EPA statement, the balls comprised fatty acids, petroleum hydrocarbons and other organic and inorganic materials, including traces of motor oil, drugs, hair, human faeces, animal matter and food waste.
