Suspicious discovery off Sydney coast after mystery black balls ...
Coogee Beach and nearby Gordons Bay are closed while they are cleared of black grime balls that washed up on the sand, as investigations focus on a possible oil slick offshore.
The lumps, which Randwick City Council described on Instagram as “mysterious, black, ball-shaped debris” and “dark spheres”, were about the size of golf or tennis balls and first spotted by council lifeguards at Coogee on Tuesday afternoon.
By early afternoon on Wednesday, Gordons Bay north of Coogee was closed as well after similar black balls washed up at the popular swimming and snorkelling area.
Coogee Beach is closed after mysterious dark balls washed ashore on Tuesday.Credit: Janie Barrett
Samples were collected from Coogee on Tuesday and sent for laboratory testing. The results are not yet back, but council has flagged the possibility of tar balls – lumps of congealed oil and debris, which would be toxic.
Lifeguards on jet skis went out on Wednesday morning and found what they believe to be a small dispersed oil slick off Coogee Beach. A Port Authority vessel later went out to investigate further.
Council workers collected the black balls into piles above the high-tide line and onto the back of a truck on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning. Council is liaising with the NSW Environment Protection Authority about safe removal.
Council lifeguards at Coogee Beach found a small oil slick on Wednesday morning.Credit: Janie Barrett
Further north, Waverley council beaches remain open and there are no reports of black balls. NSW Beachwatch website reports that pollution is likely and the water quality is unsuitable for swimming at Bronte and Tamarama, but this seems to be unrelated.
The Northern Beaches Council and Sutherland Shire Council have both confirmed nothing has washed up on their beaches overnight.
Professor Ian Wright, a water scientist at Western Sydney University, said expedited testing would usually take 24 hours. He expected the Environment Protection Authority would have results this afternoon.
Black balls have also washed ashore at Gordons Bay.Credit: Janie Barrett / SMH
The testing would identify any hydrocarbons, he said, and this would narrow down the possibilities for the source.
Wright said there were three possibilities, two coming from a source on land and the third from ocean-going ships.
First, a discharge could come from the stormwater drain and make its way out to sea. For example, if someone was working with asphalt, the hot tar could travel down the drain, react with the water, congeal into balls and collect on the beach or the estuary waters.
A close-up of the black balls on the back of a truck as the clean-up operation progresses.Credit: Janie Barrett
Second, Wright said, it was possible it came from the sewerage system, because the big ocean outfalls at Malabar and Bondi were “not highly treated” and if people put oil or grease down the sink it could solidify and form “fatbergs” with solids in the wastewater.
The third possibility, Wright said, was discharge from a ship, which burns diesel, or “an oilier, sludgier sort of fuel that’s more like asphalt”. That would be identified by the lab testing.
Australian Marine Conservation Society oil and gas campaign manager Louise Morris said oil pollution in the ocean came from both offshore oil rigs and ships. Some petroleum products formed tar balls, while others were more likely to dissipate, but in either form it was a toxic pollutant that harmed marine life.
“We only see a small amount of what is going on because most of it will fall to the bottom of the ocean,” Morris said. “It’s out of sight, out of mind, but it’s being absorbed by marine life, some of which humans eat.”
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On Wednesday morning, groups of walkers and swimmers were crowding around the barricades blocking access from the seawall to Coogee Beach. The closure interrupted daily swimmers and a PE class for Brigidine College Randwick.
Hans Visch, 76, is part of a group of swimmers who normally swim to Wedding Cake Island every morning. Visch saw news of the balls washing up last night, but tried his luck this morning hoping it had reopened.
Visch was horrified by the pollution, given the amount of wildlife, including whales, in the area.
“It makes me really sad to see this happening,” he said.
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