Oh, crap!
Thousands of mysterious black balls that washed ashore and closed a stretch of popular Australian beaches last month were discovered to be mini blobs of poop.
Initially believed to be made of tar, scientists at the University of New South Wales confirmed the sticky balls are in fact “fatbergs” – a revolting combination of human feces, human hair, cooking oil, chemicals, fatty acids, illicit drugs, and other compounds, according to reports.
“They smell absolutely disgusting, they smell worse than anything you’ve ever smelt,” lead investigator Associate Professor John Beves told 9News.
“Fatbergs” generally form in sewers when materials fail to dissolve in water and end up sticking together.
Eight beaches in Sydney were closed for several days in October after thousands of the unusual floaters washed ashore, with the Randwick City Council suspecting the pellets were a mixture of unrefined oil, potentially from an oil spill, following initial tests, the outlet reported.
Researchers said each ball was slightly different but had a firm surface and soft core.
“This was a significant analytical challenge, with highly complex mixtures containing hundreds to thousands of components, ” Analytical Chemist Professor William Alexander Donald told 9News.
“We had a lot of fun analyzing these mystery blobs, using deductive reasoning to trace the likely source to human waste.”
Due to the complex composition of the balls and the time they spent in the water, testing has yet to determine their exact origin, according to a media release from the NSW Environmental Protection Authority.
The EPA added that Sydney Water reported there are no known issues with waste systems in the city.
As the EPA conducts its own independent tests to identify the ball’s makeup, researchers believe more of the rancid floaters could once again end up on Sydney’s sandy beaches until its origin is identified.
“Unless you know where the waste source has come from there’s no reason to think there couldn’t be more in the future,” Beves said.
