One time when I was at the beach, I accidentally discovered balls of oil near the sand. At the time, I thought it was terrible. But it could have been so much worse. In October, mysterious sludge balls began appearing on a popular Australian beach. Scientists examined these sludge orbs, and they said they're "much more disgusting" than they initially thought.
The orbs were the size of tiny golf balls, and they numbered in the thousands. They literally littered Bondi Beach and other beaches as well. Ultimately, authorities closed eight beaches while they cleaned all of it up, according to the BBC. Initially, scientists believed the orbs to be tar balls. Basically, oil mixed with other debris.
But that's not what they were.
"What we found is much more — this is not going to sound very scientific — but much more disgusting than we previously thought," research team member William Alexander Donald told NBC News. The New South Wales Environment Protection Authority conducted an analysis and determined they were made of "fatty acids, petroleum hydrocarbons, and other organic and inorganic materials."
Mysterious Balls
"The investigation has revealed that the balls contain hundreds to thousands of different materials, including human hair and various fibres," officials wrote. It also included "cooking oils, soaps, and skincare items."
They even found blood pressure medication and pesticides in the balls as well. The orbs also smelled disgusting, making for a rather unpleasant experience at the beach.
"They smell absolutely disgusting, they smell worse than anything you've ever smelled," lead investigator Jon Beves told Australian outlet 9News.
As for how they got there, that remains a bit of a mystery. Authorities have their theories, but there's nothing concrete right now.
"Authorities have considered several possible causes, such as a shipping spill or wastewater outflow," the EPA wrote. "However, due to the complex composition of the balls and the time they have spent in the water, testing has not been able to confirm their exact origin."
Ultimately, they also don't know if these orbs might make another reappearance.
As Beves told 9News, "Unless you know where that waste source has come from, there's no reason to think there couldn't be more in the future."
