More Sydney beaches closed after thousands of ‘tar balls’ discovered

Seven beaches have now been closed to the public until further notice after the bizarre items washed up along the shore.

Seven Sydney beaches have been closed to the public after black tar balls washed up along the shore.

The “unusual” spheres were first discovered along Coogee Beach on Tuesday, prompting Randwick City Council to immediately shut the beach while testing was conducted.

Since then Gordons Bay, Clovelly Beach and Maroubra Beach have been closed to the public after tar balls also washed ashore.

Bondi, Tamarama and Bronte beaches were also closed “out of precaution”, Waverley council said.

The beaches will be closed until further notice.

Coogee Beach has been closed until further after mysterious, black, ball-shaped debris was located washed along the length of the beach. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw

Randwick Mayor Dylan Parker said the council would continue to remove the material across all beaches throughout the day.

“The safety of the community is our first priority. That’s why Council has taken the precaution to close these beaches while we undertake the safe collection and disposal of this material.

“We don’t yet know what has happened to produce the debris washing up on our beaches, but we will continue to work with relevant authorities to ensure the safety of the public and clean up our beaches.”

Preliminary results showed the material of the “unusual” spheres were “hydrocarbon based pollutant which is consistent with the makeup of tar balls”.

Clean-up efforts were launched on Wednesday to remove and safely dispose the debris from the popular beaches. Randwick mayor Dylan Parker said the council staff have been working closelsly with the NSW Environment Protection Agency, Ports Authority and Transport for NSW to assist in the clean-up response.

Suspected tar balls that have washed up on Coogee Beach. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw

It is not yet known where the tar balls originated from, however, the council will continue to work with all relevant authorities as required.

The clean-up process is expected to continue into Thursday, Mayor Parker advised.

“Our community is rightfully very protective of our natural environment and this has been a very concerning incident,” he said.

“We have engaged an expert occupational hygienist and a specialist waste removal contractor who are currently systematically removing the debris from the beaches in accordance with an agreed safe work method statement developed with the NSW EPA.”

He thanked the NSW public for remaining off the beach while the tests and clean-up efforts continue.

Originally published as More Sydney beaches closed after thousands of ‘tar balls’ discovered