Sydney

Several mysterious balls washed ashore at a beach in Sydney following a similar discovery on another beach in the east weeks ago. The balls were seen on the eastern end of Silver Beach at Kurnell on Tuesday. A person walking on the beach saw them and alerted the NSW Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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Authorities are working to alert the people about the new contamination. Sutherland Shire Council has set up warning signs at the section advising people to stay vigilant.

Work is on to clean the area, while no such balls were found on other beaches following.

In October, black balls washed up on the beaches of Sydney. Officials say the amount of balls and debris found in the latest incident is much smaller than the previous contamination.

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Some of the balls found are round and the size of a gold ball. The bigger ones have a more irregular shape. They vary in colour, as some of them are white, while others are either pale, green, grey or black.

Also Read: 'Tar balls' on Sydney beaches are not just oil. They contain some awful and nasty things

Balls were found to contain human feces

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The first place these balls were discovered was at Coogee Beach. Later, more of them washed up at other eastern suburbs beaches. Upon investigation, they were found to be tar balls, the Randwick City Council said. Tar balls form when a small blob of oil floats on the beach for a certain time. Workers in hazmat suits collected the balls and sent them for testing.

However, later tests found that the tar balls were something much gross. They were found to be balls of fat aggregates containing human faeces, forever chemicals, and methamphetamine. Scientists at the University of New South Wales determined that the blobs are mostly carbon, they are not made up of fossil fuel. 

They said that the balls were “human waste” and also had some fats and oils. They also noticed the presence of greasy molecules usually found in soap scum, cooking oil and food sources.