Nine beaches in Sydney were shut down for visitors on Tuesday after mysterious white and grey marble-sized balls washed up ashore, disrupting the summer holiday season.
Popular beaches like Manly, Dee Why, Long Reef, Queenscliff, Freshwater, North and South Curl Curl, North Steyne and North Narrabeen were closed until further notice, the Northern Beaches Council said.
It said they were clearing the beaches of the small debris and doing tests on the samples as they “don’t know what they actually are”.
“Nine beaches in the Northern Beaches are closed after white and grey ball-shaped debris was found washed up along the shore,” the council said in a statement on Facebook.
“Council was alerted to the debris via the EPA and is working closely with the state agency to collect samples for testing,” it added, referring to the Environment Protection Authority .
Nine popular swimming spots in Sydney’s Northern Beaches have been forced to close after more ball-shaped debris washed up ashore. I think there was something similar at the beach that black balls instead of grey. pic.twitter.com/hk92xH8GdX
— Essa Grace Eldhose (@EssaEldhose) January 14, 2025
Northern Beaches mayor Sue Heins told ABC’s Radio Sydney 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 is something that’s obviously leaking or dropping or whatever and floating out there and being tossed around. But who is actually dropped it or lost it or leaked it is something none of us know.”
Last October, a number of beaches, including the iconic Bondi east of downtown Sydney, were closed to visitors after small black balls washed up on the shore.
They were initially reported to be “tar balls” of crude oil but tests later revealed that they were blobs of human-generated waste.
The EPA found that the balls were formed of fatty acids, petroleum hydrocarbons and other organic and inorganic materials, and contained traces of drugs, hair, motor oil, food waste, animal matter, and human faeces.
A Sydney Water spokesperson said on Tuesday there were “no issues with the normal operations” of its nearby Warriewood and North Head Water Resource Recovery plants.
“Sydney Water is continuing to work with the EPA to investigate the cause of the grease balls.”
