On Tuesday, January 14, nine beaches in Sydney were closed to swimmers due to mysterious balls washing ashore. Local authorities are already trying to determine the origin of these unknown findings. Ocean beaches in Sydney,

Sydney’s pumping of primary-treated effluent into the ocean makes us out of step with the rest of the world, a water engineering expert said.

UNSW School of Chemistry Professor Dr Jon Beves says testing will commence to investigate what the mystery balls shutting down Sydney’s beaches are composed of. Nine Sydney beaches have been closed due to the suspected tar balls washing up on the sand.