More mysterious black spheres have washed up in Sydney, prompting a local council to start a clean-up operation.
A member of the public called Sutherland Shire Council about ball-shaped debris at the eastern end of Sliver Beach at Kurnell in the city’s south on Tuesday.
The NSW Environmental Protection Authority (NSW EPA) officers collected samples for analysis which will be tested and compared to others found in the last two months.
“The debris varies in size, shape and colour with some rounded and golf ball size while larger ones are more irregular in shape,” a NSW EPA spokesperson said in a statement.
“They range in colour from whitish or pale through green, grey and black.
”This is a much smaller event than the incident in Sydney’s eastern suburbs in October, with fewer balls over a smaller area.”
Authorities have inspected nearby beaches and have not found any further debris.
The NSW EPA said Sydney Water officers found a small number of balls across Botany Bay at Dolls Point Beach, which were immediately cleaned up.
“The EPA has finalised testing on ball-shaped debris that washed up on beaches in Sydney’s Eastern suburbs in October, confirming earlier results that indicate their origin is likely a source that releases mixed waste,” a spokesperson said.
“Experts could not determine where the balls originated from as no source samples were available for comparison.
“The EPA is awaiting results of testing on debris balls which washed up in Kiama in November.”
