Tar balls make sticky mess on Palm Beach beaches during busy weekend

Yahoo

09-02-2025

The weather this weekend was perfect for a trip to the sun-kissed shoreline of Palm Beach.
But beachgoers faced a viscous mess that started Saturday: Tar balls, accumulations of a sticky black material, dotting the coast. The U.S. Coast Guard reported the tar balls in a post on X, the social media platform formerly called Twitter, on Saturday.
Coast Guard crews surveyed the Atlantic shoreline from Palm Beach to Port Everglades and did not find the source of the tar balls, the agency said Saturday.
In a Sunday morning update, the Coast Guard said conditions were the same "if not improved" from the previous day.
While the tar balls are "a nuisance mess," they are not dangerous and Palm Beach's beaches are open, said Craig Pollock, the town's chief lifeguard. Tar balls were reported at Midtown Beach and Phipps Ocean Park, he said.
It's been years since tar balls washed up in Palm Beach, Pollock said.
"I can't even remember the last time we had tar balls wash up on the beaches," he noted.
According to Palm Beach Daily News archives, the most recent sightings may have been in 2010, following the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Decades ago, it happened so frequently that one lifeguard was nicknamed "Tar Toes" who was known to carry a kit to help beachgoers clean their feet, Pollock said.
"It would get all over your clothes, your feet, your shoes, your surfboard," he said.
Lifeguards noted the tar balls' presence on the condition boards at the town's beaches, Pollock said. For people who are visiting or new to Palm Beach: "They're probably in total shock from it," he added.
To clean the tacky gelatinous blobs off of skin, clothes or shoes, Pollock suggested using Vaseline or baby oil and a rag or paper towels.
Tar balls are clumps of oil that form a mass around debris in the water, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
"The source is generally believed to originate from offshore petroleum production, drilling, and marine transportation discharges, which includes vessels pumping bilges and tank cleaning," the DEP said. "However, natural seepage from the ocean floor is also considered a source."
To report a pollution spill, the Coast Guard said to call the National Response Center at 800-424-8802.
The tar balls were seen along beaches south of Palm Beach, including in Lake Worth Beach and Boynton Beach, according to multiple news reports.
In Broward County, some beaches in Fort Lauderdale were temporarily closed Saturday because of the tar balls, Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue said on social media.
The agency posted an update Sunday morning that while people going to the beach should watch for jellyfish, the beaches were open with no reports of "tar balls or oily substance today."
Aside from the tar balls, beach conditions this weekend were ideal for visitors, Pollock said.
There was a light chop and seas were at 1 to 2 feet, he said.
Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at [e-mail]. Subscribe today to support our journalism.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Tar balls make sticky mess on Palm Beach beaches during busy weekend