What were the thick, dark blobs that washed up on some of Sydney’s famous beaches last month that Australian scientists have solved?
First believed to be oil balloons, they were in truth a “disgusting” combination of human faeces, cooking oil, substances and illegal drugs, experts say.
After hundreds of the dark debris started to appear on eight beaches, including Bondi, since October 16th, a significant cleanup was ordered and eight of them were ordered to close for a few days.
Researchers ‘ assessment revealed that the balls were most likely the result of a sewage flow, though their precise location is unknown.
Authorities in New South Wales ( NSW) reported last month that they believed the items to be a mixture of fatty acids, fuel oil, and chemicals found in cleaning and cosmetic products.
However, more research revealed that the fabric is unlikely to have come from a ship’s waste or an oil spill, as some had speculated.
Each game had a solid surface, which had been partly hardened by accumulating dust and minerals like calcium, and a gentle base.
In was everything from cooking oil and shampoo scum substances, to blood pressure medication, pesticides, hair, meth and animal medicines.
” They smell absolutely disgusting, they smell worse than anything you’ve previously smelt”, lead analyst Associate Professor Jon Beves, from the University of NSW, told 9News.
According to Professor William Alexander Donald, they resembled large, oil, and oils orbs, which are frequently called fatbergs and are common in sewer systems.
He claimed that identifying this along with outdoor medications, industrial pesticides, and industrial compounds had “pointed us to wastewater and other resources of industrial effluent.”
The researchers claimed to have heard unconfirmed reports of smaller, if not identical, balloons accumulating over the previous two years.
According to Sydney Water, there have n’t been any known issues with the city’s waste systems.