A number of Florida seashores closed Saturday after mysterious tar balls washed up on the shoreline — and now the US Coast Guard is investigating their supply.
Stories of the black, oily globules spanned from Port Everglades to Palm Seaside, main the Coast Guard to ship a aircraft and boat out from Miami and Fort Lauderdale to evaluate the state of affairs, the company mentioned in a social media put up.
However despite the fact that it was working with the Division of Environmental Safety and different state officers, the federal company hadn’t realized a lot in regards to the supply of the tar, based on the South Florida Solar Sentinel.
In the meantime, huge swaths of Fort Lauderdale’s seaside closed to swimmers because the oil washed ashore and slicks adorned the water, metropolis officers mentioned.
The shoreline remained closed till about 5:30 p.m.
“Once we first got here down right here, there was like bizarre, black globs on the seaside,” one man informed NBC 6 South Florida. “I assumed it was a sea creature or one thing.
“Then the lifeguard got here down they usually’re like, ‘All people out of the water, out of the water,’ and we’re like, ‘What’s that for?’ they usually’re like, ‘Oh, it’s ’explanation for the oil.’”
Others at Hollywood Seaside, Deerfield Seaside, Boca Raton and Pompano Seaside seen the tar balls, although they have been much less pervasive and didn’t power closures.
Seth Platt, a Fort Lauderdale resident, informed the Sentinel he was strolling on the seaside at dawn Saturday when he felt one thing on the underside of his foot.
When he acquired again to his automobile, he discovered it was oil — and seen “little blobs” in all places, he mentioned.
His youngsters — who took half in an elementary school-led seaside cleanup that morning — noticed the identical factor.
“I warned them as quickly as they acquired to the seaside,” Platt mentioned. “I mentioned, ‘Hey guys, there’s tar in all places, don’t contact it.’ However all of them got here again with tar throughout their toes.”
It’s unclear the place the pollutant got here from, though Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis and different officers imagine it could possibly be from a close-by tanker.
The tar balls have been extra of a litter downside than a well being hazard, Trantalis mentioned. However the seashores would stay closed till the oil slick disappeared.
Other than the random oil plugs, the seaside remained “stunning,” Frank Guzman, a spokesperson for the Fort Lauderdale Hearth Rescue.
“There’s no seen indicators of something until you step in it,” he mentioned.
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