Mysterious ‘alien poo’ tar balls wash up on busy Sydney beaches
A massive clean-up is underway after thousands of mysterious – and possibly toxic – black balls washed up on two popular Australian beaches, but what are they and where are they from?
READING LEVEL: GREEN
When thousands of strange, unidentified black balls washed up on the shores of two famous Sydney beaches, they sparked the imagination and curiosity of locals.
While some people likened the round objects to “alien poo”, scientific testing has now revealed they are tar balls, sparking a massive environmental clean-up.
Coogee Beach and Gordons Bay Beach were first closed to the public after the black balls were found on Tuesday afternoon.
While samples were take for testing, the mysterious dump left locals puzzled and started a flurry of social media speculation* and jokes about what they could be.
“Could just be a bad batch of Arancini*,” a reader named Daniel joked on The Daily Telegraph.
“Weird it’s only washed up at Coogee,” reader Emmanuel commented.
“Mulder and Scully are racing to the scene,” another named Lindsay joked, referencing The X-Files*.
“Alien poo!” Anny Fitzgerald added on WSFM’s coverage of the incident.
Randwick Mayor Dylan Parker issued a firm warning to the public, urging everyone to stay away from the beaches.
“It looks like a beautiful day, but we’re asking people to enjoy other beaches across the eastern suburbs,” Mayor Parker said. “There looks to be an oil spill or slick but it’s still under investigation.”
Randwick City Council said early test results from samples collected on Tuesday afternoon showed the balls were a hydrocarbon-based* pollutant “consistent with the makeup of tar balls”.
Hydrocarbons are the main components of petroleum-based products and can be carcinogenic* or poisonous.
Humane Society International marine biologist Lawrence Chlebeck said people should not touch the balls as they could cause serious health problems.
“We would not want to stick our arm into a barrel of crude oil*,” he said, adding that even swimming nearby was a bad idea.
A ship or small run-off was likely the cause of the oil or tar entering the water, rather than a large oil spill, he said.
The round nature of the clumps indicated they had been buffeted* and smoothed at sea for months.
But the fact they had only washed ashore at Coogee and Gordons Bay and not nearby Bondi showed how intricate sea currents could be. Mr Chlebeck said it was possible the tar balls had washed up from the wider Pacific Ocean.
He said more tar balls could wash up at neighbouring beaches over the coming days.
Randwick Council is working together with the NSW Environment Protection Agency, Beach Watch NSW and other relevant bodies to figure out when it might be safe to open the beach again.
“This has never happened before,” Mayor Parker said. “Council staff have been hard at work, clearing the beach through the night and into the morning, but it’s unclear when we’ll be able to reopen Coogee Beach.”
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POLL
GLOSSARY
- speculation: questioning, making up stories about something
- Arancini: an Italian dish of fried risotto balls with stuffed centres
- The X-Files: a popular TV show from the 1990s where fictional FBI agents Mulder and Scully investigated paranormal activity
- hydrocarbon-based: based on the organic compound consisting of hydrogen and carbon found in crude oil, coal and natural gas
- carcinogenic: causing cancer
- crude oil: also known as liquid petroleum, is a fossil fuel that is extracted from the Earth’s crust and used for burning as fuel or processing into chemical products
- buffeted: shaped by the wind or waves by being struck violently over and over again
EXTRA READING
Freaky NT monster of the deep
Spaceships grounded at Aussie property
Would you drink recycled water?
QUICK QUIZ
1. What are the mysterious black balls washed up on the beach made from?
2. How did they become round?
3. Why are authorities warning people not to touch them?
4. The balls have polluted which two Sydney beaches?
5. What are authorities doing to make the polluted beaches safe again?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. It’s NOT poo!
Imagine that someone you know strongly believes that it really is alien poo washing up on the beach! Write down what you would tell them to help them to understand what is really happening and why it could not possibly be alien poo. Use information from the story to help you.
Time: allow at least 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Science
2. Extension
Create a design for a machine or a piece of technology that could safely pick up and dispose of the tar balls and make sure that the beaches are clean and safe. Remember to label the parts of your design to show how it all works!
Time: allow at least 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Science, Design and Technologies
VCOP ACTIVITY
Read with Kung Fu punctuation
Pair up with the article between you and stand up to make it easy to demonstrate your Kung Fu punctuation.
Practise reading one sentence at a time. Now read it again, while acting out the punctuation as you read.
Read and act three sentences before swapping with your partner.
Take two turns each.
Now ask your partner to read a sentence out loud while you try and act out the punctuation. Can you keep up? Swap over?
Try acting out two sentences – are you laughing yet?
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