Mysterious ball-shaped debris wash up on South Coast beaches

Mysterious balls have washed up on at least two beaches on the NSW Far South Coast, and possibly more, drawing comparisons to the mixed waste balls that appeared on Sydney beaches several months ago.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) found the ball-shaped debris on 1080 Beach and Pooles Beach at Mystery Bay, which is south of Narooma, earlier this month.

The balls were apparently spread across 200 metres of 1080 Beach and varied in size and shape, a NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) spokesperson said.

NPWS staff visited the beach on Wednesday (11 December) and also inspected nearby beaches.

“Around 20 debris balls were also found at Pooles Beach, however there were none observed on any other nearby beaches,” the EPA spokesperson said.

The staff notified the EPA of the discovery and began cleaning 1080 and Pooles beaches.

Both beaches have been closed for the clean-up, while signs have been installed to advise visitors of the contamination.

NPWS will continue to monitor Mystery Bay’s beaches in the coming days.

EPA officers also went to the beaches on Thursday (12 December) to collect samples for analysis.

A Eurobodalla Council spokesperson said NPWS was managing the clean-up of the debris balls at both 1080 Beach and Pooles Beach, which will be monitored over the coming days.

“The collected balls are being stored at Surf Beach Waste Facility,” the council spokesperson said on Friday.

“We are waiting for the EPA to complete their waste classification investigation and to confirm they are not hazardous and can be buried in landfill.

“Today, the EPA also informed us that a small number of balls were reported by members of the public at Yabbara and Kianga beaches in Dalmeny.”

The council spokesperson said if beachgoers were to come across a debris ball, not to handle it.

“There is no known source of these debris balls yet,” they said.

In October 2024, black balls washed up on beaches in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, resulting in the closure of the beaches and a large clean-up effort.

These balls were reported to contain a combination of faeces, oil, chemicals and drugs.

On Thursday, the EPA spokesperson said its team had finished testing the balls found in Sydney, “confirming earlier results that indicate their origin is likely a source that releases mixed waste”.

“Experts could not determine where the balls originated from as no source samples were available for comparison,” the spokesperson said.

“The EPA is awaiting results of testing on debris balls which washed up in Kiama in November and Silver Beach at Kurnell earlier this month.”