Sydney — Hundreds of mysterious black tar-like balls have washed up on two popular Sydney-area beaches, prompting lifeguards to close the shores to swimmers.
“Mysterious black ball-shaped debris” began appearing on Coogee Beach in the Randwick region on Tuesday afternoon, the local mayor said, leaving baffled Australian authorities scrambling to find out what they might be be and where they came from.
Hundreds of golf- or baseball-sized spheres could be seen littering the coast, which is usually populated by Sydneysiders and tourists.
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Instead, a few seagulls wandered among the spheres, pecking and examining.
The bullets were also spotted near Gordon’s Bay, a popular aquatic reserve for snorkeling and fishing, which was also closed.
“At this stage it is unclear what this is,” Randwick City Mayor Dylan Parker said in a social media post. “However, they can be ‘tar balls’ that form when oil comes into contact with debris and water, usually following oil spills or seepage.”
The balls on Sydney’s picturesque shores aren’t the only unidentified objects to appear on beaches recently. Canadian officials confirmed to CBS News on Tuesday that they are investigating drops of a white “mystery substance” that have washed up on beaches in the far northeastern province of Newfoundland since September. Labrador.
Canada’s environment agency told CBS News’ Ahmad Mukhtar that samples of the hundreds of white spots littering beaches had been taken, but the substance and its origins remained a mystery.
