Beaches remain closed as clean-up of black 'tar' balls continues

Sydney's Coogee Beach and Gordons Bay Beach remain closed today as council workers continue to work to remove thousands of black balls which mysteriously washed ashore earlier this week.

A tar ball is a small blob of petroleum that has been weathered and shaped after floating in the ocean for a period of time.

Randwick Mayor Dylan Parker said council staff were working fast to remove the balls from the beaches.

"Our community is rightfully very protective of our natural environment and this has been a very concerning incident," Parker said.

"Our priority as a local council is to keep people safe and protect as far as possible our coastal and marine environment."

The origin of the tar balls remains unknown, however, the council said it would work with authorities to pinpoint it.

Coogee Beach was closed Tuesday afternoon after the balls washed up, with clean-up crews starting their work at the beach yesterday.

Parker said Randwick Council staff have been working closely with the NSW Environmental Protection Authority, Ports Authority and Transport for NSW on the cleanup response.

The next beach along the coast, Gordons Bay, was also closed on Wednesday as the small black spheres were spotted there on the sand.

The tar balls were also found scattered along the length of the shore by lifeguards.

"We're currently investigating exactly what the source of this mysterious beach pollution is," Parker said at the time.

Randwick City Council collected samples to investigate their materials and origin.

"We thought we'd have a swim, walk along the beach, and lo and behold, we can't even get on the sand," one would-be beachgoer told 9News.