Cause of mystery black balls on Sydney beaches found to be poop, not oil spill

Mysterious black balls that had shown up on a popular Australian Beach have been identified as balled up sewage spiced with chemicals and drugs.

Beaches closed for days

On Oct. 15 strange debris shaped like black balls began appearing on Coogee beach in Sydney, Australia.

The black balls were initially not identified, and the local city council initially believed that the balls were the result of an oil spill or seepage.

While Coogee beach was initially the only affected beach, Sydney would eventually close up to eight beaches including the world famous Bondi Beach.

The beaches were closed for several days while a cleanup operation was carried out.

Later in the month New South Wales authorities had said that they suspected the products were a mixture of fatty acids, fuel oil, and chemicals found in cleaning and cosmetic products.

Poop and drugs

But the BBC is now reporting that Australian scientists have determined that the dark blobs were in fact a combination of cooking oil, chemicals, human faeces, and illicit drugs.

The balls were described as all being slightly different from each other but overall having a firm surface and a soft core.

Associate Professor John Beves from the University of New South Wales said that analysis showed that the balls were not natural and could not be attributed solely to an oil spill, being more consistent with human generated waste.

He said that a combination of standard and advanced chemical analytical techniques had been used to reveal the composition and potential sources of the material.

The spheres likely contained hundreds of different components, including cooking oil, soap scum, chemicals, steroidal compounds, antihypertensive medications, pesticides, and veterinary drugs.

The BBC quoted Beves as saying that the ball smelled absolutely disgusting”, “worse than anything you've ever smelt.”

No known issues

It also quoted Professor William Alexander Donald as saying that the blobs resemble blobs of fat, oil,and grease, usually referred to as fatbergs, which often form in sewage systems.

This, along with the detection of recreational drugs, indicated that the origins of the material was from sewage and other sources of urban effluent.

However Sydney Water, responsible for sewage treatment in the city, had reported that there were no known issues with waste systems in the city.

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Top image via UNSW Chemistry & Randwick City Council/Facebook