South Floridians enjoying a comfortable Saturday on the beach have found themselves stepping into dark, greasy oil bowls, probably due to a spill offshore, officials say. The Coast Guard is currently investigating sources.
The tarball report has been extended from the Port Everglades to Palm Beach, the US Coast Guard Southeastern said in X. The agency is working with Department of Environmental Protection and state officials, a spokesperson said in an email. The Coast Guard sent boats from the Miami airplanes and stations at the air station to “assess the scene and identify sources.”
Swass on the Fort Lauderdale beach was closed to swimmers during their busiest days to wash in water and wash oily, city officials confirmed.
The beach itself is still open, but no one was allowed underwater from LifeGuard station 1-16 to Saturday afternoon. Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue spokesman. Fort Lauderdale has 20 lifeguard stations.
Hollywood beaches also watch tarballs, but the beach remains completely open, according to city spokesman Joanne Hussey. So does Deerfield Beach, the city said on Facebook. Pompano Beach is also monitoring them, but they are “pretty sporadic,” said spokeswoman Sandra King. Participants at the Boca Raton beach also reported seeing tarballs at South Inlet Beach via a Reddit post.
Guzman said Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue initially received calls from beach visitors around Sunrise and reported tarballs and oily substances underwater.
When lifeguards with Fort Lauderdale Ocean Rescue were on duty, they too discovered a ball of oil in the sand, some of which stepped into a black, greasy substance.
Ocean Rescue has notified the US Coast Guard, which investigates the oil paintings.
Fort Lauderdale resident Seth Pratt said he went on a sunrise walk at the beach on Saturday and felt something at the bottom of his feet and thought it was a dog poop. He returned to his car and discovered it was oil. Platt said that when he returned to the beach in the afternoon, some of the tar seemed to be cleaned, but there were “little blops of it” everywhere.
His children were also taking part in the beach cleaning with the elementary school that morning.
“I warned them as soon as they got to the beach,” Pratt said. “I said ‘Hey guys, there’s tar everywhere, don’t touch it. But they all came back with tar all over their feet.”
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Tarballs “relatively more like garbage than health risks,” Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said. He said that the water would remain closed for most of the day or “it takes a while to float somewhere else, even though the oil paintings are scattered around.”
The cause of the tar ball remains unknown. Trantaris thought the oil was from a nearby cargo ship or cruise ship. The Coast Guard Miami Sector did not immediately return emails or call them on Saturday afternoon.
Things are still unfolding, said Steve Glassman, Commissioner of Fort Lauderdale. “We’re waiting to see them make a decision.”
Otherwise, Fort Lauderdale beaches would have remained “beautiful” on Saturday afternoon, Guzman said.
“Unless you step into it, there’s no visible sign,” he said.
