Black Balls

[j.sabourn]

Current morning news …. Coogee Beach NSW has been closed after an epidemic of black balls washed onto the Beach. Des you were the last one out of the water ? Can you enlighten us further ? They look to be the size of a tennis ball . Haven’t lost anything then ? JS

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi John.
Gees they have taken a long time to get to Coogee. I had a black pair when the our crew off the British Guardian had a fight in Dunkirk with a load of Spaniards building the refinery there, The Scots firemen went ashore later and cleaned them up, along with a little damage to the town.
Des
PS
It's bad enough having shark attacks there without being belted with blackballs

[j.sabourn]

My reply to #2 as per black balls seems to have not made it , however it referred to sharks liking black pudding. Must be that Liverpool man plucking posts from the air before reaching their destination. JS.

[happy daze john in oz]

Maybe from some ship where the skipper has been blackballed for not having good food for the crewe.

Do you think maybe they attempted a cremation at sea and it went very wrong??

[j.sabourn]

#4 you mean like great balls of fire John ? JS

[Ivan Cloherty]

Apparently they are 'tar balls' formed when oil spillage comes into contact with floating debri and water, as the oil particles cannot gell with other oil particles they cling to each other (seperated by debri) and form a ball. However being just a plain simple seaman I have doubts about that, as with that theory the Atlantic Ocean in WWII and the shores adjacent there-to would have been covered in black balls from the thousands of vessels sunk

[j.sabourn]

Another theory could be for the enterprising reporter looking for a scoop , maybe all these passenger vessels floating around the Australian coast with all these affluent passengers are maybe filling in their time attending fraternity meetings and wanting to become members , but are being blackballed as unsuitable , the organisers are left with all these articles of authenticity to get rid of, that they are throwing them overboard when it gets dark. JS

[j.sabourn]

Tar balls our press now informs us. So probably illegally discharged from a tanker. Easy enough to check which one if the Ausrep system is still being adhered to where every ship on the coast reports in to Canberra every 4 or 6 hours with position course speed etc. or if from an oil installation. JS.

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi John.
It could be from HMAS whatever when they where told they where going to patrol the Persian Gulf.
But seriously. it shouldn't be to hard to find the ship that discharged it, if they can't find it what chance of checking on China.
Des

[happy daze john in oz]

When they do find it maybe they will blackball it from our waters!!