Tar balls about 1-2 inches in size have washed up onto a beach at Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park in Long Branch, New Jersey, the U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday.
Waves and currents form the tar balls, which can come from oil spills or from natural seepage of oil into the ocean. The cleanup of the balls began Wednesday, the Coast Guard said in a post on X.
The first reports of the balls came Monday, when Long Branch environmentalist nonprofit Clean Ocean Action posted on Facebook photos of balls that washed up in Monmouth County.
The Coast Guard went to the beaches Tuesday and found more tar balls before starting an investigation into where the oil making up the balls came from.
“Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City conducted an overflight of the area to identify any oil pollution in the water. No oil was observed in the water during the flight,” the Coast Guard wrote in a release.
Crews are working to find out the impact the balls and oil may have had on a stretch of the Jersey Shore from Sea Bright to Long Branch. No reports have come in of wildlife being affected by the oil.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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