In October, mysterious, foul-smelling black balls began washing up on the shores of Sydney, Australia. It was initially theorized that the strange substance was tar washing ashore from an oil spill. Once people started dissecting the balls to learn more, however, it became clear the reality was far more disgusting.
Scientists from the University of South Wales conducted their science magic on the balls and determined they were “fatbergs.” It’s not a new term, but maybe you haven’t heard its disgusting definition: congealed clumps of human waste originating from sewers.
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The fatbergs washing up on the beaches of Sydney were made up of all sorts of horrors, including human feces, food waste, human hair, cooking oil, prescription drugs, methamphetamine, and many many many other substances that all came together to form the hateful black balls of ooze.
The wild mixture of substances points to a few possible sources/causes, including sewage overflow and industrial discharge, though the source of the balls remains a mystery. But one thing is for sure, according to lead investigator Associate Professor John Beves, “They smell absolutely disgusting, they smell worse than anything you’ve ever smelt.”
Fatbergs are typically formed from various fats and greases that accumulate in sewers and have a reputation for causing serious blockages. One of the largest fatbergs ever recorded, measuring 3 feet high and more than half a mile long, was discovered in Birmingham, England in 2021. Baltimore, Maryland, here in the United States, had a fatberg problem in 2017 that caused a sewer overflow.
Australian health officials and researchers continue to test the fatbergs for any information on their origin so they can fix the problem at its source.
