SYDNEY, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Balls of debris have washed ashore on a beach in southern Sydney weeks after a similar incident forced the closure of several beaches in the city.
The Sutherland Shire Council on Thursday said that a small number of green, gray and black balls of debris were spotted on Silver Beach in the suburb of Kurnell, 15 km south of central Sydney, on Tuesday.
Officers from the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) in the state of New South Wales (NSW) collected samples of debris for analysis. The council has launched a clean-up effort, with the public strongly advised to avoid the beach in the meantime.
The EPA said that Sydney Water officers also found a small number of the balls at Dolls Point Beach, six km west of Silver Beach.
"The debris varies in size, shape and color with some rounded and golf ball size while larger ones are more irregular in shape," a spokesperson for the EPA said.
The EPA said on Thursday that experts could not determine where the balls had originated from.
It comes after seven beaches in eastern Sydney, including the iconic Bondi, were closed for several days in mid-October after thousands of balls of debris washed ashore.
Testing showed the eastern Sydney debris balls consist of hundreds of components, including fats, drugs and human waste. ■
