Once again, small, ball-shaped debris has washed up along the shores of Sydney, Australia, closing nine beaches in the area as experts try to figure out what it is and where it came from.
The gray and white balls, most of which are the size of a marble, come months after mysterious black balls appeared, leading to the closure of eight beaches in October. When authorities tested the balls, they determined they were most likely the result of a sewage leak.
Now, says Northern Beaches Mayor Sue Haines Latest Balls “Could Be Anything.”
“We don’t know at the moment what this is, which makes it even more worrying,” she told The Guardian.
Most debris balls are about the size of a marble.
Bulletin/Northern Beaches Council
“There’s something that’s obviously leaking or falling…floats out there and gets thrown away.”
Northern Beaches Council said in a statement it was working with the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA). Cleaning the mystery balls And send them for testing.
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Meanwhile, they have advised beachgoers to avoid Manly, De Why, Long Reef, Queenscliff, Freshwater, North & South Curl, North Steen and North Narrabeen beaches until further notice.
According to the BBC, the wreckage that washed up in October was widely reported “tar balls” But testing found they contained everything from pesticides and hair to cooking oils, soap butter, veterinary medicine, methamphetamine and more.
Last October, many beaches were closed, including the famous Bondi Beach east of downtown Sydney, after thousands of black balls appeared on the beaches.
Bulletin/Northern Beaches Council
Scientists said they resemble clumps of fats, oils and grease – often called grease clumps – which typically form in sewage systems from human-generated waste and can form when materials accumulate and stick together.
The EPA advised the public not to handle debris balls and to report them when found.
&Copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
