Don’t touch that. That’s poop. Photo: Northern Beaches Council
In mid-January, nine beaches in Sydney, Australia were closed after a bunch of gross little mysterious balls washed up along the coastline. At the time, the composition of the forbidden beach balls was unknown, but after a battery of tests, officials can confidently say that they are made up mostly of shit. Well, sort of.
“The mysterious balls that forced the closure of several beaches in Sydney last week were found to contain saturated fatty acids, E. coli and faecal bacteria, authorities say,” the BBC wrote.
The Northern Beaches Council sent the marble-sized balls to the the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority (EPA) in the days after they began showing up in the sand. It wasn’t the first time it happened, either. Back in October, thousands of the black blobs showed up on some of Australia’s most famous beaches. Those were found to be made up of a whole mess of things, from “cooking oil and soap scum molecules, to blood pressure medication, pesticides, hair, methamphetamine, and veterinary drugs.”
As of this writing, the majority of the poop balls have been cleaned up, but the Northern Beaches Council is still urging people to stay hands-off if they find any more.
“We are continuing to conduct regular inspections of our beaches and encourage the community to report any sightings,” said Northern Beaches mayor Sue Heins.
Now authorities are focused on finding the source so that they can prevent it from happening again.
