00:00They're the size of an apple, some larger than others and they're easy to pull apart
00:09but not so easy to identify.
00:11The substance was discovered at Gordons Bay today after first being spotted at neighbouring
00:17Coogee Beach yesterday, puzzling both the marine science community and local residents.
00:23I've been here for quite a few years and there's never been anything like that.
00:26I've seen a load of rubbish, you haven't seen this stuff, and we didn't know what it looked like.
00:30Just come down for a swim as we do every morning at 6 o'clock after a run and yeah, we couldn't swim.
00:37Teams from several New South Wales government agencies and the local council have gathered
00:42samples for laboratory testing.
00:45This is the first time that an incident such as this that we're aware of has happened in
00:48the Randwick Council area.
00:50Lifeguards patrolling off Coogee saw an oil-like substance in the water and later the Randwick
00:56Council revealed preliminary tests confirmed the material as a hydrocarbon-based pollutant.
01:02When oil spills in the ocean, over time it forms these what we call tar balls, so clumps
01:08of oil pollution effectively.
01:11High tide is at 8 tonight and it's expected to wash more of these tar balls onto the shores
01:17here at Gordons Bay and at Coogee.
01:20That means beach goers might be waiting some time before being able to swim again.
01:26What's complicating that assessment is that it's really only Coogee and Gordons Bay where
01:30you see the pollution.
01:31That would suggest a much more localised source, just a boat literally only a few hundred metres
01:38off the coast.
01:39It's not yet known the scale or origin of this toxic substance, but a clean-up is now
01:44underway at both beaches.
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