By Jessica McSweeney and Josefine Ganko
Two Sydney beaches remain closed after the discovery of mysterious ball-shaped debris at nine beaches on Tuesday.
Northern Beaches Council reopened seven beaches across the northern beaches on Wednesday morning, but Dee Why and South Curl Curl remain closed amid the clean-up.
The council was notified on Tuesday by the NSW Environment Protection Authority that the marble-sized balls had washed up across the coast.
Nine beaches from Manly to North Narrabeen were closed on Tuesday after potentially hazardous ball-shaped debris was found.Credit: James Brickwood
Manly, Dee Why, Long Reef, Queenscliff, Freshwater, North and South Curl Curl, North Steyne and North Narrabeen were all closed on Tuesday. Mayor Sue Heins said the council was continuing to monitor all beaches for more debris, particularly following a high tide this morning.
“Council was alerted to the debris via the EPA and is working closely with the state agency to collect samples for testing,” a statement from the council on Tuesday said.
“So far, most samples identified are marble-sized, with a few larger. The council is organising the safe removal of the matter and is inspecting other beaches.”
It comes after thousands of similar balls were found across Sydney’s eastern suburbs last year, shutting down beaches including Coogee and Bondi.
After extensive testing, those objects were found to be made of a combination of fatty acids, petroleum hydrocarbons (likely to be shipping fuel), hair, food waste and other materials associated with wastewater.
The balls found in the eastern suburbs were black, while the balls found in the northern beaches are white and grey, the council said.
Most of the white debris balls found on the northern beaches are marble-sized.Credit: James Brickwood
It’s unclear when the debris first appeared, but locals told the Herald the balls were washing up as early as Saturday.
In a statement, the EPA advised the public not to touch the debris and noted similarities to the balls washed up on eastern suburbs beaches.
The northern beaches are set to host the Manly Open and Freshwater Open surf carnivals over the weekend, but they may not go ahead regardless of the speed of the clean-up.
Manly Beach was closed due to the discovery of debris balls.Credit: Facebook
Event organisers are monitoring a large swell system predicted to arrive on Friday, according to a statement shared by Surf Life Saving Sydney Northern Beaches.
In October last year, black grime balls washed up on almost every eastern suburbs beach from Bondi to Botany Bay. They were found in Kiama in November, and in December, similar balls were discovered along the South Coast, including 1080 Beach and Pooles Beach at Mystery Bay.
The EPA was unable to determine the origin of the eastern suburbs balls but concluded they probably came from a source “that releases mixed waste”.
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