Several Sydney beaches were closed down in October 2024 while authorities investigated mysterious tar balls that had washed ashore.
What happened?
NBC News reported on the phenomenon, explaining that the mysterious golf-ball-sized blobs were of unknown origin. A preliminary analysis by a team of University of New South Wales researchers suggested they originated from a crude oil spill or natural oil seeps in the ocean floor.
Why are these toxic blobs concerning?
Though scientists had first suspected the blobs were primarily made up of crude oil, later analysis of the ones on Coogee Beach found the material was not natural and could not be attributed solely to an oil spill, Phys.org reported.
"It is most consistent with human generated waste," lead researcher Jon Beves told the publication.
"We found the sticky spheres contained hundreds of different components, including molecules that derive from cooking oil and soap scum, PFAS chemicals, steroidal compounds, antihypertensive medications, pesticides, and veterinary drugs," he added.
This is bad news for the millions of people who swim in Sydney's beaches each year — Bondi Beach alone sees 2.9 million annual visitors — as many of the compounds found by researchers are correlated with negative health impacts. For instance, PFAS has been correlated to ailments like cancer, hormone disruption, liver and thyroid problems, interference with vaccine effectiveness, reproductive harm, and abnormal fetal development, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.
William Alexander Donald, a chemistry professor at the University of New South Wales Sydney, also told NBC News the balls could damage marine ecosystems and affect animals such as seabirds, turtles and fish by disrupting their movement and feeding patterns.
What's being done about the tar balls?
Researchers are continuing their investigations, according to the Phys.org article.
That said, there are a number of ways governments are trying to keep our oceans, rivers, and other waterways clean from pollutants. For instance, a British water supply company was recently fined more than $2.4 million for polluting a local river with raw sewage. Plus, a Minnesota lake has been removed from the state's impaired water list after 20 years, thanks to clean-up efforts led by local watershed district officials.
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